Crystal Memories
by Konsaki
Summary: Take a costume party, some knuckle-headed friends and add a dash of magic, then set to blend. Now, Ranma and his unlikely companions must figure out where, when and why they are; shenanigans and memories to last a lifetime to be had along the way. The question is: how much will that experience change them and will they ever make it back home?
1. Chapter 1

Crystal Memories  
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfiction  
Author: Konsaki

The black haired martial artist looked over his reflection one more time, a roguish young man looking back at him with the bare hint of a smirk. 'Kinda hard to believe she got all this for less than five thousand,' he thought to himself as he looked over the clothes he wore. Almost every piece was either black or a charcoal grey, which suited him fine. From the black backless top covered by a grey canvas vest to the similarly colored long cargo pants held up by a black leather belt; they looked dashing on his frame, if he had any say about it.

Turning sideways to get a profile look, Ranma just shook his head ruefully as the last piece of the outfit came into view. Sticking out of his shorts, right at the tailbone, was a long black tail with a white tip. Ranma had to admire the craftsmanship involved, as the connection point of tail to shorts was covered by a flap of cloth, making it look like the tail was sticking through and not just attached.

"Are you almost done?"

Glancing towards the door and adjusting the vest once more, Ranma called out, "Yeah, I'm done."

A moment later, a smiling young woman walked through the bedroom door. "Does everything fit alright?"

"Yeah, everything fits pretty good, Kasumi," Ranma replied with a nod. Pulling the long tail forward to show the eldest Tendo sister, he stated, "Though, this is an odd color for the tail if I'm going as a Saiya-jin."

Putting a hand over her mouth to cover a small laugh, while keeping the other still hidden behind her, Kasumi stepped forward while saying, "Don't be silly, Ranma. That's not a Saiya-jin tail."

"It's not," he asked, as Kasumi walked around him. Feeling her put a hand on his shoulder, keeping him from turning his body to follow her, he watched the elder teen stop behind him via the mirror. Seeing the mischievous smile quirking its way on her lips, Ranma finally realized what it was. "You're kidding," he groused out.

The brown haired woman just giggled with a nod before placing a pair of white cat ears attached to a black band on his head. The black band made it seem to disappear into his hair, making it look like he really had a set of white cat ears on his head, causing an eye to twitch. "You planned this out," the martial artist stated more than asked, as Kasumi messed with his hair to hide his real ears somewhat.

"Oh, what made you think that, Ranma-kun," Kasumi innocently replied as she finished teasing his hair.

Ranma just grinned and snorted lightly in humor, "The fact that you're grinning like a loon… might be a big tip off." Adjusting the ears for a better fit on his head, he turned around and looked at her with a raised brow, "Anything else you hiding or that it?"

Kasumi just held her hands before her with a smile, "Other than your shoes downstairs, that's all."

"And here I thought I could get out of doing my laundry for a week," an amused voice from the hallway chimed in, "I didn't think you could do it, Sis."

Turning towards the door and raising a finger up before her, Kasumi intoned, "Well, maybe a week of washing dishes will teach you not to doubt your big sister again." Seeing Nabiki wince at that, Kasumi's seriousness broke down into light giggles, a moment later she blinked in recognition. "Is that from the attic?"

Looking down at her costume, Nabiki raised a brow before responding, "Yes, it is. Why, were you going to wear it anytime soon?"

"No," Kasumi replied with a shake to her head, a slightly wistful tone in her voice, "No, I guess I'm not. It's probably too small for me now anyways."

"Yeah," the short haired teen agreed with a nod, "It's a little tight, but it still fits, if barely. Don't you think so, Saotome-kun?" She ended her question by pushing her constrained breasts out towards the indicated target with a knowing leer.

Ranma just jerked his gaze away back to Kasumi, asking incredulously, "You wore that thing?"

"Oh, yes," she stated as she stepped over to Nabiki to straighten the brilliant pink bow on her sister's chest, "My friends and I all dressed up as the Senshi a couple years ago and, since I was the tallest, I got to be Sailor Jupiter." Seeing her sister's smirk at the martial artist's expression behind her, Kasumi spun around and struck a pose, "I, Sailor Jupiter, made this costume for Love and Justice!"

The two sisters broke into laughter a moment later as Ranma just shook his head at the antics. "Okay, whatever," he dismissed, still grinning himself before glancing towards Nabiki, "but ain't you gonna to get cold in that getup?"

"They have these things they call 'coats', Saotome," Nabiki dryly replied as she turned and started down the stairs to the first floor. "Now, hurry up. I don't want to be more late than fashionable."

"Yeah, yeah," Ranma called out, making his way towards the door before looking over his shoulder, "Thanks for the help, Kasumi."

The eldest sister just smiled, "It's no problem, little brother. Just have a good time and keep my sisters safe."

"Count on it," he answered, flashing a grin and a thumbs up before heading down the stairs.

Now alone in the guest room, the long brunette haired woman tapped a finger to her chin, "Maybe I should call Hitomi and see if she knows of any parties…" Nodding her head once, she smiled and decided to do just that.

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"I did warn you, little sister," Nabiki smugly stated as she preened her warm coat to rub salt into the metaphorical wound. The evening setting sun causing her white jacket to take a yellow/orange hue.

Akane just shot her sister a glare as she rubbed at the goose-bumps covering her arms. "It wasn't this chilly when we left the house," the younger girl complained before she grumbled mostly to herself, "I'll just borrow one from Yuka when we get to her place."

A moment later, Ranma found his fiancée shooting him a similar cold glare, causing him to scrunch his eyebrows and tersely inquire, "What?"

"Where's 'your' jacket," the short haired martial artist asked irritably, stressing the middle word for emphasis.

Ranma just shrugged as he kept his hands in the pockets of the grey shorts he wore. "Don't need one for this. Had to deal with a lot worse on the road."

Akane just sent another cold look at him before turning her head away, still rubbing her exposed arms. Ranma just continued to look at her through the corner of his eye, taking in the costume she wore. The Tendo had dressed herself up like the older version Sakura Haruno from Naruto 'Shippuden'; with red sleeveless shirt/dress and black biker shorts underneath. What surprised him was the fact that she went far enough to dye her hair a bubblegum pink to match the character's color.

He'd be lying if he said she didn't look cute in that outfit, but with the way she was acting; he wasn't about to say a damn thing.

Making a quick decision at the next intersection, the pigtailed teen continued going straight even when the two girls turned to continue to Yuka's house. This caused Nabiki to ask, "Where are you headed, Saotome?"

"I'm headed to Dai's place," Ranma responded with a wave of a hand, "I'll see you guys at the party."

"What happened to 'escorting us', Ranma," Akane demanded irritably, arms crossed before her.

Ranma just stopped for a moment to look over his shoulder with a quirked brow, "You saying you need my protection?"

"'Need your protection'? As if," Akane tersely cried back, turning away to continue to her friend's house. Ranma just shrugged and continued on his own path while Nabiki stood there watching the byplay for a moment before catching up to her little sister.

After comfortably walking in silence for a couple minutes, Ranma finally broke from his inner thoughts with a grin as he waved to a recognized figure. "Heya, Dai! Nice costume," he called out.

"What's up, Ranma," Daisuke happily returned with a wide smile, trading a quick high-five with Ranma as they changed direction, now headed to Hiroshi's. "What about you, man? Wouldn't have thought to see you in a catboy outfit. You know, with the whole…"

The martial artist just waved it off, "It's no big deal. It doesn't trigger 'that'. Anyways, I didn't choose it; Kasumi put it together for me and surprised me with it today." Looking his friend over, Ranma asked, "Okay, I know where your uncle got you the hat, but where'd you get the gun?"

Daisuke just grinned at the question; pride in his cowboy costume showing as his friend mentioned the six-shooter he wore. "It's a prop my dad borrowed from work. Figured, since Uncle Jiro got me this on his last trip to America," he said, indicating the oiled rawhide cowboy hat, "I'd see if Dad couldn't help me out."

Ranma just nodded, knowing Daisuke's father worked at a TV Tokyo studio. "Can I look at it," he asked, not having looked at any guns up close before.

The black haired cowboy just shook his head with a grimace, "Sorry, man. My dad basically ordered me on 'pain of death' not to mess with it on the streets. Hell, I have to have a letter from his work in my wallet in case anyone asks why I have a pistol."

"No problem," Ranma replied with a shrug, not really concerned, "Me and Hiro can check it out at the party, right?"

"Sure," the brown eyed teen answered with a grin, eager to show the six-shooter off. The grin slid off his face a moment later as he asked, "Speaking of Hiroshi, did he call you earlier?"

Quirking his brow, the blue eyed fighter shook his head in the negative. "No, why?"

"He was supposed to meet up at my place around fifteen minutes ago. Finally got tired of waiting and decided to head to his place."

Ranma just shrugged and the pair continued on, the conversation drifting to one of the new Jump manga that released the day before.

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The door opened, revealing a middle aged woman with curly brown hair running down her back in a pink blouse and white slacks. Looking at the two costumed teens just outside her house, her lips twitched into some combination of a smile and smirk. "Good evening, boys. I'm assuming you're here to pick up Hiroshi?"

After both teens responded a greeting, Daisuke answered, "Yeah, he was supposed to meet me at my place almost half an hour ago."

Hearing that, the woman's expression slipped even more towards a solid smirk before calling back into the house, "Hotaru-chan! Go tell your sister to hurry up! Her friends are here!" The confused looks the two boys were giving to her and each other caused the woman to break up into giggling behind a hand. The confusion stemmed from one major issue; Hotaru didn't have a sister, only her brother Hiroshi.

"Big Brother, hurry up," a young girl's voice floated out through the open door couple seconds later. "Come on!"

"Fine! Alright already," Hiroshi's annoyed voice flowed out a moment after. "I'm comin' already, quit pulling!"

The two outside didn't put much thought into the brother/sister interactions they were hearing, having heard it before. Their confusion and interest peaked, though, when they heard Hiroshi almost whine from just out of sight, "Come on, Mom. Do I have to?"

Hiroshi's mother just turned to the unseen teen, crossing her arms across her chest with a quirked brow, "You made your bed; now it's time to face the music." Smirk returning to her face, she waved an arm towards the main entrance, "Now, don't keep your friends waiting. Go and have some fun." Reaching out, she pulled Hiroshi into view and pushed him out the front door while laughingly saying, "You two take good care of my 'daughter' and remember your curfew, young lady."

The door closed, greatly muffling the mother's laughter while the three teens stood silently outside. Hiroshi stood there with an atomic blush and standing ramrod straight while Ranma and Daisuke stared with wide eyes and gaping mouths. The silence hung for what seemed like eternity, up until the cowboy cried out, "What the hell, man!?"

With that, Hiroshi broke between his friend to start walking down the street, saying a quick, "Let's just go."

"No, seriously," Daisuke continued as he quickly caught up to his retreating friend, "why are you in that getup!?"

Said getup consisted of a rather complete Lina Inverse costume; yellow shirt, tight red pants, gloves, long black cape with pink interior and stuffed cloth pauldrons with colored gems. Hiroshi was even wearing a long coppery colored wig and simple jewelry consisting of a blue stone necklace and some dangling earrings.

"It's my sister's fault, alright," Hiroshi tersely replied as he kept up his pace, continuing to look forward with a scowl on his face.

"Your sister's fault," Ranma parroted in confusion, glancing over to Dai who just shrugged.

The currently copper haired teen sighed and stopped under a nearby overhang, the evening sunset causing the shadows to darken over time. "A couple months back, I kinda agreed that if she made a costume I'd wear it." Seeing the grins forming on his friends' faces, he scowled, "I thought she would just forget about it or something. I didn't know she'd go this far…"

"You mean like making you wear make-up and a stuffed bra," Ranma commented with no small amount of humor.

Hiro just coughed into a gloved hand and averted his gaze as he blushed once more. "That was my mom," he muttered under his breath.

"Your mom," Daisuke exclaimed in surprise, pushing his hat up from where it had fallen forward on his head. The pigtailed martial artist had the same surprised expression; trying to picture, and failing to imagine, his mother pushing make-up and bra onto his male half. 'Ranko' didn't count.

"Yeah," the crossdressing boy replied, crossing his arms over his 'breasts' before dropping them under, "said it was a penalty for trying to back out when Hotaru finally showed me what she made."

In the ensuing silence, the three teens sorting through their thoughts, Ranma's face went from confusion to humor. "Well, at least I'm not the girl of the group for a change," he comment with a grin before continuing towards the costume party.

Daisuke just let out a laugh as he and Hiroshi followed along; Hiroshi unable to keep a small grin off his pink lips at the situation.

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By the time the trio had arrived to the party at the Kuno estate, dusk had fallen across the sky; only a slight glow left on the west edge of the horizon. After gaining admittance through the main gate by the diminutive Kuno family ninja, Sasuke, the trio made their way through the rather large front yard. Small lanterns along the grounds cast clear the darkness enough for the partygoers to enjoy both the night and see each other's costumes. Light music played in the background, drifting out from inside the manor, loud enough to hear but not enough to impede conversation.

As the three walked along the illuminated path towards the main party, the trio responded to greetings from fellow partygoers in the yard. Hiroshi had to endure some good natured ribbing about his costume once people realized who 'Lina' was, but he took it in stride.

Once they got inside, the teens found the moderately crowded room dominated by a large refreshment table in the center. There was a good selection of finger foods, ranging from sliced fruits to sandwich wedges, along with a couple of different drink bowls to choose from. The center of the table was crowned by a large elaborately cut ice sculpture of a rose laying beside a ice katana stuck in the ice.

"Check out the spread," Diasuke commented in awe, moving up to the table to grab a plate.

Filling up his plate with snacks, Ranma asked, "Kuno always go all out like this for these parties?"

"This is the first time they've had one," Hiroshi answered, filling up a glass with some red punch, "at least one we've been invited to."

"That is because I spare nothing when it comes towards my two loves," Tatewaki Kuno's voice explained haughtily from behind the trio. As Ranma and Daisuke turned to look at the Kuno male, Hiroshi stayed with his back to the kendo enthusiast between his friends. "Though I made it a point not to invite you, Saotome," Tatewaki stated with scorn.

"Blame your sister," Ranma easily replied with a shrug, recognizing why his invitation had black roses on it while Akane and Nabiki's didn't. Of course, the invitations to Akane and 'the pigtailed girl' were hand written with so much prose, it was easy to tell who wrote them out. "I made sure 'the pigtailed girl' got your invite, Kuno. She declined," Ranma stated with a smirk, placing his full plate back on the table, just in case.

"So you admit to using your vile techniques to warp my love's desires," the Kuno teen accused as he pulled forward a clear sword, turning it on to glow a deep red before pointing it at the Saotome heir. Flicking his eyes towards the figure still not turned towards him, Kuno declared, "You cad! Not is it enough to enspell the fierce Akane Tendo and the pigtailed tigress; you use your vile magics to control yet another woman of beauty, in my own abode no less!"

The Kuno obviously expected a different response from his target, falling into a confused funk when Ranma and Daisuke broke out with laughter while the 'woman' seemed to facepalm with her still turned. Quickly shifting back to anger, the robed swordsman demanded, "You dare to mock me, miscreant!?"

Looking over to Hiroshi with a grin, Ranma saw the put upon look on his made-up face. Deciding the potential payoff was worth it, the martial artist grabbed hold of the pauldroned shoulders and twisted the caped figure around to face Kuno. "Here you go, Kuno. Say hello to 'Lina-chan'," Ranma cheerfully stated as he released his friend's shoulders.

The trio and surrounding partygoers were then privy to a rare sight, that of Tatewaki puffing up only to stutter and fall speechless an instant later. Then, in a moment of brilliance or grand idiocy depending who you asked, Daisuke stepped behind 'Lina' and started to fondle 'her' breasts while commenting to a still stunned Kuno, "Check out her rack, Kuno! Just as big as the pigtailed girl, you think?"

Just as the kendoist recognized the implications of the situation, his face turning a shade of green, Hiroshi broke out of his owned shocked state. Twisting out of his friend's grasp, he slugged the black haired cowboy in the shoulder, yelling in an obviously male voice, "Quit mauling my chest, you jerk!"

The area descended into silence, only the background music providing ambience, as the situation took one step over the line into surreal. Then, someone snickered once, causing the room to explode in laughter. This laughter continued even as Kuno put a hand to his mouth and vacated post haste, causing Daisuke to state confidently while rubbing his sore shoulder, "Completely worth it!"

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"Stupify!"

Feeling something poking him in the back through his grey vest and hearing the familiar voice, Ranma looked over his shoulder. Raising a black brow, he asked wryly, "Ambushing outside the toilet?"

Flushing lightly, Ukyo retracted the wooden rod she had just poked her fiancé with. "At least I didn't walk in on you," Ukyo replied with her lips quirked downward. Her expression changing towards the more positive, she continued, "Anyways, I just arrived; had to close up the shop. Have I missed anything?"

At that, Ranma grew a mischievous grin. "Have you seen Tatewaki or Hiroshi yet?"

Smiling in a knowing way, Ukyo nodded. "About how the True Blunder was hitting on 'Lina'?" Seeing Ranma's face fall a bit about not having a story to tell, Ukyo giggled behind a hand before tucking a stray strand of brown hair behind an ear. "Sayuri told me about it when I arrived. I really wish I was here to see it when it happened," she stated with a mock pout before giggling some more.

Grinning again at the recent memory, Ranma just shook his head as he started walking down the hall, Ukyo falling in step. "You should have been there when me and Dai first saw Hiro at his house. That… was an interesting… event."

"I can imagine," Ukyo agreed with a smile. "Speaking of costumes, I'm surprised to see you in that."

Ranma just shrugged as he opened the doorway to the backyard, letting the brunette girl pass through before him. "Kasumi made it for me," he responded, as if it explained everything. "What are you dressed up as," he asked his childhood friend, diverting the topic.

"I'm a witch," she replied with a twirl, causing the dark cloak to flare slightly. As she came to a stop, her long hair curled around before settling back as she held her hands clasped before her. Ranma could see a sharp looking sweater vest hiding a tie and button up shirt under the cloak.

"You look cute, Ucchan," Ranma replied, causing his fiancée to smile and flush. Scratching the side of his head, he asked with light confusion, "But aren't witches supposed to have pointy hats and be… well, ugly?"

"I guess…," she hedged, thinking about the western witch stereotype, "but I'm a playing a modern witch." Not seeing signs of recognition from the black haired martial artist, she elaborated, "You know, from that Harry Potter book."

Still not completely understanding, Ranma nodded his head and answered, "Oh, sure."

"Have you seen Suzuhara? It's almost as if Rei jumped out of Evangelion," Ukyo said with a bit of envy and awe.

"Suzuhara… She from Kuno's class," Ranma asked, not familiar with the name.

"That's right. She lives near me and is a frequent customer," Ukyo replied in explanation, tucking her wand into a hidden pocket.

"So, she looks exactly like Rei, huh," Ranma wondered before shaking his head , "Nah, haven't seen her." Returning a quick wave to Daisuke, who stood next to Hiroshi, Yuka, Sayuri and Akane, he added, "I did see a good Kamen Rider, though." Ranma noticed that the girls were wearing coats in the night air.

Tapping her chin with a finger as she looked towards the group across the yard, Ukyo nodded after a moment. "I think I saw him, too. Jiro, maybe… At least I think so, because of the people he was with," the chef mused before shrugging, "Couldn't tell for sure because of the mask."

"Yeah, there are a couple of really cool costumes, where people went all out," Ranma commented, "but most are like mine; pretty much generACK!"

"Ni hao, Ranma!"

Hearing her fiancé's squawk of distress and the accompanying reason, Ukyo jerked her body to face him. Growling, her arm unconsciously reached across her shoulder to grasp at a handle which wasn't there, causing her growl to deepen. "Get off him, Shampoo," the combat chef demanded hotly, even as Ranma started his careful struggling.

"If Airen wanted Shampoo to stop, Airen would force Shampoo to stop," she smugly replied to the brunette, snuggling up to the male more, causing him to halt all struggling and standing ridged due to the contact.

Ranma's mind went from trying to figure out a way out of this growing situation to just hanging his head in defeat once he heard fiancée number three's voice yell out, "Get off of him, you bimbo!"

Shampoo's expression flashed to annoyance for a moment, seeing Akane stomping towards them, before shifting back to her smug smirk. Rubbing her cheek against the now non-resisting male, she repeated, "Shampoo already say, he make me let go if he really want to." Seeing Akane's eye twitch at that, Shampoo decided to step it up a notch by licking the raven haired martial artist's cheek slowly before cooing, "Airen even match costume with Shampoo. Show how he wants Shampoo…"

There was a slight truth to the Chinese teen's statement, they both had fake cat ears and tails. Other than that, though, was up to interpretation, as Shampoo wore one of her usual outfits compared to Ranma's custom made. This fact was overlooked by the youngest Tendo.

"Ranma…"

Seeing the Tendo girl glaring daggers at him while growling out his name, Ranma cried out, "It's not true! Kasumi…"

"Leave my sister out of your perversions," Akane angrily yelled before jerking her gaze back towards her foreigner rival, "And quit molesting him right in front of me, you bimbo!" Ukyo yelled out her agreement with the last statement, reaching into her cloak while eying both rival fiancée's warily.

Once again, Shampoo's face flashed annoyance before shifting back to a catty grin, "Fine! Shampoo take Ranma to private place, then!"

A split instant later the two embraced teens leaped apart, barely dodging a cracking whip strike, as a haughty female voice intoned, "Vile foreign hussy! Cease your debasement of my abode with your despoilment of my Ranma-sama!"

All three fiancée's and Ranma spun towards the openly hostile attack, each landing in a ready defensive stance. Just as quickly, their jaws fell wide open as they beheld the sight before them. They weren't alone, as the other party goers fell into shock and whispered comments at the… costume of Kodachi Kuno.

"What on earth are you wearing," the brown haired chef called out in surprise.

Kodachi merely sniffed in contempt, recoiling her leather whip to keep it from tangling up. "Why am I not surprised that you plebeians cannot recognize style and beauty even if it whips you across the face," she stated in distain as she looked down her nose at the trio of females. A knowing smile grew on her lips as she looked towards the lone male, "My Ranma-sama, though, notices and appreciates the poise and grace I display."

"Crazy girl look like Zhipeiyuhenqiang… er…," Shampoo struggled to figure out the correct translation before jabbing her finger out once more, "Dominatrix! You is Dominatrix, Crazy Girl!"

Everyone watching and hearing the declaration could hardly disagree; the Kuno female dressed in a skin hugging black leather leotard/corset which left the tops of her rather generous breasts displayed. She also wore matching thigh high black leather boots and shoulder length gloves.

Rubbing the coiled whip lightly against her cheek, like cuddling a small puppy, Kodachi sent a sultry gaze towards Ranma. "You are quite correct, you filthy foreigner. Like the great Tira Misu-sama I received this idea from, I shall tame my Wild Stallion and we shall live in euphoria till the end of our days!"

Realizing exactly what Kodachi was implying, both by word and choice of clothing, Ranma loudly declared with horror on his face, "No way! Nothing doing!" The fierce jerky nods of his gathered fiancée's joined their exclaimed agreement with his sentiments.

Kodachi paid her rivals no heed and simply smiled at her target of affection, snapping a small length of leather taut between her gloved hands. Continuing to eye the raven haired martial artist with a smoky gaze, she purred, "Please, do resist, Ranma-sama. It will be more fun once you finally accept that you want this," she stated with a waved hand over her body.

"You're going to have to go through us, you crazy psycho," Akane yelled out, preparing herself for a fight. Ukyo and Shampoo followed suit; the former pulling out a few spatula shuriken while the latter sidestepped to a more advantageous position.

Ranma, for his part, rolled out of the way as Kodachi snapped her whip out towards him, spurring the stare down to full on melee. Pushing off with his hands out of the roll, Ranma leapt six feet away from the fight and kept on retreating. Hearing the growing battle behind him and smashing of thrown objects, Ranma bolted towards the nearest gate, along with the other party guests, to escape from the Kuno estate.

Leaping up to the top of the perimeter wall, avoiding the congestion at the gate below him, Ranma turned to look at the bedlam inside the estate. Shampoo was currently taunting and avoiding the youngest Tendo who was tossing and using anything nearby as improvised weaponry. Kodachi was currently lashing out at a dodging okonomiyaki chef with a bright red ribbon; the whip previously wielded laying in three pieces on the ground amongst discarded spatula shuriken. Off to the side, Tatewaki was rubbing his ribs as he picked himself up from the dirt, his tan robes showing grass stains from his impact with the ground.

"What's it look like," Ranma heard from the outside, causing him to glance down to see Daisuke looking up at him. Hirosihi, Sayuri and Yuka stood nearby with similarly interested looks on their faces.

Letting out a breath while running a hand through his hair, the martial artist dropped down next to his classmates. "Looks like this party's done for," he stated with a shake of his head.

"Oh well," Yuka tried to state nonchalantly, though her disappointment showed through, "I still need to study for that math test on Tuesday, anyways."

Putting her hand on the pixie costumed girl, Sayuri stated, "I'll go with you, we can study together some."

The three guys just watched the girls walk off together towards Yuka's home before looking towards each other. Knowing they were really going to just gossip about the party, but deeming it not important, they listened to the continuing discord rolling over the wall.

"So…," Daisuke started up, "Want to head back to my place? I just got Ultra Getter Combat V a couple days ago."

"Sure, but we should head by Hiroshi's on the way, so he can get out of his costume," Ranma pointed out, jerking a thumb towards the currently copper haired transvestite amongst the trio.

"Don't bother. My mom said she won't let me take this off until I'm prepping for bed," Hiroshi countered with a wave of a gloved hand.

Daisuke and Ranma just looked at each other and shrugged, not really caring either way. "Okay, then. Let's head to my place," the cowboy stated with a jerk of his head, leading the trio away from the continued fight happening behind them.

They walked in comfortable silence for about a block before Hiroshi chuckled, drawing the attention of his friends. Grinning, he jerked his thumb at Ranma, "Just thinking about the look on your face when Kodachi…" He didn't continue but motioned a whip crack while making the sound effect.

The Saotome heir grimaced at the reminder, "How'd you like it if she was coming after you?"

"Whoa," the Lina cosplayer verbally back stepped, raising his gloved hands up in a surrendering gesture, "I'd do the same thing, but…"

"But did you see how smoking she was in that getup," Daisuke butted in, almost drooling out of his mouth. "Say what you want, but that leather was Hot, with a capital 'H'!"

"You really want to have all the rest of the baggage that comes with the package," Ranma inquired with a quirked brow.

Deflating noticeably, the short haired cowboy just shook his head, "No way, man. She's too jacked up in the head." His expression quickly ramped back up with a leering grin, as he stated, "But that doesn't mean I can't look and what a sight she was tonight! Admit it!"

"I'm not saying nothing," Ranma flatly stated with finality, continuing his forward trek. Both his friends laughed a bit at his response, but it was good natured and he knew it.

A little while later, Hiroshi blinked as he realized something. Pointing towards a shop sitting on their side of the street, he asked, "Hey, either of you guys ever see this place before?"

Their attention drawn to it, the trio looked at the displayed sign, 'Mystic Misc. Inc.', hanging above the entrance and dimly lit display window.

Taking off his cowboy hat to scratch at his head, Daisuke responded first, "Nope… What about you, Ranma?"

"Same, though I'm not sure I like the name," the long haired costumed catboy hedged, looking from the sign to his friends. "Besides, the lights are off," Ranma added, jerking his thumb towards the dimly lit interior.

Pointing to the 'We're Open' sign hanging in the entrance's small window, Hiroshi moved towards the shop. "The sign say's they're open," the cloaked youth countered, reaching and opening the door. "And the door's unlocked," the shortest of the three grinned as he pointed out the obvious.

"I don't know, man," Daisuke hedged, moving up to look through the now opened door, "You'd think we'd have seen this place before. It looks pretty old."

"All I know is this place makes my teeth itch," Ranma stated, hanging back from his two friends who were near the open entrance.

Hiroshi just grinned, "Come on, guys. You scared to take just take a look?" Passing through the open portal, his voice drifted back, "I mean, what's the worst that could happen? We find something we want to buy and don't have the money?"

Seeing Daisuke shrug and follow his friend into the store, Ranma grumbled under his breath as he, too, advanced through the doorway, "'What's the worst that can happen', he says. Knowing my luck, we're about to find out…"

As he made his way inside, Ranma found the interior illuminated by a hanging chandelier fitted with fake candle bulbs, which flickered and caused interesting shadows to dance in the room. The store itself was bigger than he expected; a few cramped isles of wares stocked to the brim but somewhat ordered and clean. Directly on the other side of the room from the entrance, he saw a counter with a curtained doorway leading to what could be a storage room. Stepping inside, the door closed behind him with a gentle chiming ring.

"Check this place out," Daisuke exclaimed with awe, "It's like every thrift store in Tokyo dumped their weird stuff in here." As he stated this, the costumed teen was making his way towards the far wall covered in random bits of clothes, masks and toy armor parts and weapons.

Making his way up to the counter and it's display case, passing Hiroshi who was looking at a display of rather odd knick-knacks and boxes, Ranma saw a sign displayed on it and called out, "Sign over here says the owner'll be back in ten."

"Cool," Hiroshi responded, putting an ornate box back onto the shelf, "None of these things have prices on them, so I guess we have to ask him if we find something."

Ranma just nodded with the statement, looking into the glass display case to the assorted gems, jewelry, dice and small books with flowing script on their covers stored inside. Off to the side, he heard Daisuke call out, "Hey, check it out. The eyes on this head are tracking me. Wonder how it's doing it…" Glancing over, he saw his friend bobbing back and forth before what looked to be a disembodied head in a glass jar.

"Probably an optical illusion or tracking motors for the eyes," Hiroshi responded to the cowboy, holding yet another box up to examine it.

"Don't know, man, it's kind of creepy," the black haired cowboy said back after a moment of thought, deciding to move to a different area of the store with one last glance at the head, "Sorta looks like it's glaring at me or something."

"You're just imagining things," the cloaked teen replied, dismissing his friend's concern.

"I don't know, Hiro, some of this stuff is pretty messed up. There's even a mummified monkey hand back behind the counter," Ranma countered, pointing at said withered hand inside a glass jar. "I think we should leave."

Holding the latest box before his face, Hiroshi spoke under his breath, "Polly Morph™ 'Become the New You!'" Beside the words on the box was a happy teen girl in a pink witch's outfit leaning against the brand name, her stylish star wand shooting sparks. "Just a sec, guys," he stated, finding the small latch holding the box closed, "I want to check this out first."

Looking up from where he was trying on an ammo belt prop, Daisuke said, "Wait till the owner gets back, man. You don't even know how much it is!"

"I'm just checking it out," Hiroshi defended his actions, slight annoyance entering his voice as he undid the latch with a noticeable pinging sound.

The next moment, Ranma and Daisuke saw an explosion of pink smoke jet out to fill the entire room just as Hiroshi let out a curse and start coughing. The smoke covered everything, filling their own lungs with a burning itch, which caused them to also cough and gasp. Trying to move his way to the exit, Ranma found himself barely enough breath to yell, "Out!"

Reaching Hiroshi, whose breathing seemed the worse of the three by being at ground zero, Ranma pushed him towards the door while steadying his friend. As he fumbled to find the door handle through stinging eyes, the martial artist found himself supporting most of Hiroshi's weight and hearing Daisuke stumble up behind them. Finally twisting the knob, Ranma pushed out and brought Hiroshi into the outdoors, the last of the trio quickly on their heels.

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Staggering to a stop a few meters outside the shop, Ranma forced his lungs empty before taking a deep breath. The cool night air filling his chest felt like a healing balm on a fresh burn; fiery sting just before the sweet soothing feel of healing. As he continued to support a flagging Hiroshi with one arm, he wiped his eyes clear of tears while Daisuke stood nearby still trying to catch his own breath.

Once the raven haired martial artist dropped his hand, he blinked to make sure he wasn't seeing things. The scene not changing, Ranma blinked his blue eyes once more; Daisuke finally calming down to the side. A moment later, his fears were confirmed when he heard his friend exclaim, "What the hell?! Where are we?!"

Looking out at the expansive moonlit lake before them, Ranma could only shake his head. Glancing over his shoulder, where he expected to see the mysterious shop they had just escaped from, the teen found a dilapidated one room wood and stone cabin backed against a rock cliff wall. Turning his gaze back, Ranma looked at the surrounding area lit by the near full moon, finding nothing but the lake surrounded either by cliff on their side and hints of trees on the other side of the lake.

Before he could look any further, Hiroshi stirred in his grasp, his strangled voice choking out, "I don't feel good…"

That turned out to be Ranma's split second warning to turn his buddy slightly; Hiroshi's dinner splashing harmlessly into the grass at their feet instead of on them. "You okay, Hiro," Ranma lamely asked as he felt more weight on his shoulder.

A few weak coughs were his only reply before Hiroshi's form went fully limp, Ranma swiftly changing his hold to keep from dropping the unconscious teen. "Shit," he cursed, looking towards Daisuke, "Help me get him inside."

"Yeah… Sure," the short haired teen replied dazedly, supporting Hiroshi's other arm and shoulder. Lifting the insensate cosplayer, Ranma and Daisuke hauled Hiroshi into the cabin, dead feet dragging across the grass and dirt. Ranma giving direction, they laid out their friend and covered him with the cloak from his own costume.

"Crap, he doesn't look good," Ranma cursed as he examined Hiro's pale face.

Moving back to the doorway, Dai strained his eyes, "How can you tell? It's freaking dark in here."

Seeing his downed friend shivering slightly, Ranma stood up and made his way outside. "Keep watch over him, Dai. I'm going to grab some stuff to make a fire," he stated, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder while looking him directly in the eyes. "I'll be back in a few. Okay?"

Taking his hat off to run a hand through his hair while letting out a deep breath, Dai nodded, "Sure…"

True to his word, Ranma returned a few minutes later with the materials required for him to start up a fire in the cabin's crude stone fireplace. As the embers caught and he added some thicker branches and a cut log he found nearby, Ranma felt the heat radiating onto his face. Looking over to Hiroshi's form, Ranma swore he saw less shivers and a more steady rise and fall of his chest.

Sitting against a wall of the cabin, Daisuke had his knees pulled to his chest and head cradled in both hands. Rocking back and forth slightly, he whispered out, "What happened? Where are we? What the fuck?!"

"Dai, calm down," Ranma lowly responded, trying not to disturb Hiroshi.

"Calm down? Calm down," the short haired male parroted back in a distraught but low voice, "How the hell am I supposed to be calm right now?! We're… this is crazy! We don't even know where the hell we are and Hiro's jacked the hell up!"

"I know," Ranma hissed back, checking on Hiro once more before looking at Dai's form, "Look, I know it's bad… but we're okay. Hiro's lookin' better." Rubbing his eyes, the pigtailed martial artist let out a beleaguered breath, betraying the stress he too felt. "Look, just try and get some sleep, alright. I'm going to watch over Hiro for a while longer before grabbing some shut-eye, too."

Seeing the high school student run his hands through his hair once more, Ranma reached out to pat him on the shoulder, "Dai, just get some sleep. We'll figure this out in the morning and work from there." Daisuke finally gave a slight nod before letting out another sigh; sliding around to where he could lay out on the hard dirt floor.

Silence reigned in the abandoned cabin; save the snaps and pops of the fire. Ranma couldn't really tell how long it took, but eventually he could sense his friend settling into a sleep of some sort. Rubbing the bridge of his nose while letting out a breath, Ranma whispered under his breath, "What the hell have I gotten into this time?"

The flames just crackled and shot a spurt of sparks into the night gloom in response.

Looking over one last time towards Hiroshi, Ranma saw his other friend in what looked like as best of a comfortable resting sleep to be expected. Throwing one last piece of wood into the fireplace, the martial artist found his own spot on the floor to spread out; the last visage of dancing lights on the patched roof fading to black as he closed his eyes and tried to catch some sleep.

Mercifully, it came quickly to the young man.

o0O0o

End of Chapter


	2. Chapter 2

Crystal Memories  
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfiction  
Author: Konsaki

The early morning serenity shattered as a panicked shriek pierced it like a shrill siren wailing into the air.

Snapping his eyes open, the pigtailed martial artist rolled back over his shoulder, uncoiling into an upright ready stance with his back to a weathered and mossy wall. Jerking his eyes around the room to try and identify the danger, Ranma saw Daisuke doing the same while still seated on the floor, his left hand holding the polished pistol cocked and ready.

Just as the martial artist laid eyes on the origin of the scream, Dai demanded of the person still half-asleep and not pleased, "What the hell, man?! I'm trying to sleep here!"

Hiroshi, cloak still covering most of his form even as he sat up, jerked his panicked eyes towards Dai, who just yawned as he put his pistol back in its holster. A second later, the caped figure's eyes turned fierce as he yelled out, "It's freaking gone! That's what's wrong!"

The black haired teen just blinked in response, while Ranma's eyes widened before he rubbed his forehead with a groan. Eye twitching, Hiroshi flicked his gaze towards the only standing member of the trio. "What?!"

"Your voice," the Saotome fighter responded with a negligent wave of a hand, the other sliding down his face. Turning his head towards Dai, able to see him easily with the glowing embers from the fireplace, Ranma directed, "Dai, go outside for a bit." Seeing the confused teen look towards him, he jerked his head towards the door, "You don't want to be in here. Just don't go too far," he warned.

"Fine, whatever," he replied, the confusion and curiosity clearly in his voice as he stood and put his leather hat on his head. Giving one last look towards his two friends, receiving a nod from Ranma, Daisuke headed outside and closed the door behind him.

The clack of the ramshackle wood door closing seemed to snap Hiroshi back to activity, him jerking his head back while demanding, "Why'd you tell him to leave, and what's my voice got to do with me losing...?"

"Lift up your shirt," Ranma stated flatly as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Thrown out of his line of thought by the demand out of the blue, Hiroshi lamely let out an intelligent, "Huh?"

"Lift. Up. Your. Shirt," the pigtailed martial artist repeated, enunciating each word while keeping his tone level and low so Daisuke couldn't overhear. Receiving another confused look, he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Just do it, alright. It'll confirm my… suspicion."

"Fine," the sitting form acquiesced, dropping the cloak to his lap and pulling up the yellow short sleeved shirt. The emotions on his face shifted from one type of confusion to another as he finished pulling he finished pulling the shirt over the padded bra; Ranma letting out a sigh from the other side of the room at the same time. Looking down, he found the padded bra not containing the tissues his mother had stuffed them with when she gave it to him. Reaching up with his free hand, he groped one of the cups, letting out a shocked gasp in response.

"What the hell?!"

Hearing and expecting the shocked and panicked shriek this time, Ranma just ran the hand down his face once more before settling back onto the wall. As he looked over at his friend, who was still staring at his hand and the not-quite so fake breasts, he stated wryly, "Congrats, it's a girl."

"You're shitting me," Hiroshi proclaimed in denial, pointing the hand not still cupping the breast towards the 'sometimes female' martial artist.

"What you said earlier was about missing this, right," he more stated than asked while gesturing to his groin, "And you have those, so… Welcome to my life." Even as Hiroshi's mouth worked open and closed silently, Ranma slid down to sit cross-legged on the floor. He finally asked once he settled himself, "What'd you open?"

"What're you talking about?" The copper haired 'girl' replied, brow scrunching up.

"What did you open up yesterday to cause this?" Ranma clarified, waving a hand towards his friend before adding, "And you can quit feeling yourself; they're real."

Blinking at the last statement, Hiroshi looked down to see his hand still where it was before. The next moment, he quickly jerked the yellow shirt back down, a flush growing over his face. Trying to distract his mind from both what he had been handling and the feelings entailed, Hiroshi thought about what Ranma had asked. Scrunching his brow, he hesitantly replied, "I… don't remember…"

"Great. Just great," the raven haired teen replied with a shake of his head, a grimace formed on his lips. Locking his deep blue eyes back on Hiroshi, he muttered under his breath before stating, "Check the hair."

Now more trusting of the martial artist's direction, Hiroshi reached up and ran a gloved hand through the long coppery red hair. The unconscious widening of his eyes told Ranma all he needed to know. "It's real too," he stated more than asked once again, receiving a slow silent nod in response.

"So you lost 'that', got those and that's real, too," Ranma said before letting out a breath. "While I now have these and this," he continued, pointing to the white ears on his head and the long white tipped tail curled around his side.

"What?"

"They're as real as your…," he responded with a shrug, "I only felt them and realized once I figured out what had happened to you."

"What happened…?" Hiroshi asked, fear in his now higher pitched female voice, afraid to hear the answer but already knowing it.

"Whatever you opened yesterday probably did this to us; turned you into a girl while I got 'catboy-ed'," Ranma replied with a shrug, though a frown still adorned his face.

"So…," the gender swapped high-schooler started, uncertainty evident in his voice, "What do we do now?"

"Now? First, we head outside and see if anything happened to Dai," Ranma responded, holing up increasing fingers, "Then we figure out where we are, how to fix this and then get home."

"Oh… Can I ask a question first?"

Quirking his brow, the martial artist nodded, "Sure, what's up?"

"Well…," Hiroshi hedged, face growing red, "You see… I've got to go, and…"

Ranma just slapped the palm of his hand onto his face and let out a beleaguered sigh.

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Opening the door to the cabin, Ranma took in the lake before him once more; except this time, the strong glow of the early morning sunrise silhouetted the forest which lay on the other shore. Stepping outside, he noticed Daisuke standing on the calm shore of the lake, far enough to not hear the pair exiting the cabin while still staying well away from the water.

Moving towards his friend in the leather cowboy hat, Ranma looked over his shoulder as Hiroshi hesitantly peeked through the doorway. Motioning silently with a hand towards the side of the shack, Ranma watched as the new girl of the group skittered around behind the wood and stone structure, a bright blush covering her face. Giving his head a shake while rubbing the back of his neck with a hand, the martial artist just faced front and moved towards the silently standing teen by the lake.

Walking up with nary a sound, Ranma moved to stand beside his friend, choosing to just observe the soft ripples in the water in peace. After a bit, the pair looked to their right, as a fish of some sort splashed amongst some reeds before ducking back under before they could spot it.

"So, I'm a catboy and Hiro's a girl," Ranma flatly stated, shattering the serene stillness.

Thrown off whatever thought process he might have had, Daisuke blinked in confusion before scrunching his brow while turning his head towards the now white cat-eared teen. "What."

"Whatever he opened last night turned him into a girl," Ranma explained before raising a hand to the side of his head closest to Dai and parting the hair where his human ears should be. "and I got both the ears and tail I was wearing." The white tipped black fired tail sticking out the back of his grey cargo pants then swished in the calm morning air, drawing Daisuke's brown eyes.

Seeing the martial artist blandly explaining the situation, the still human highschooler hesitantly asked, "Okay… So how'd he take it?"

Thinking a second about what to omit, Ranma shrugged, "He took it a lot better than when I went girl the first time." Rubbing his chin a moment later, he did amend that statement, "Of course, it's his own damn fault, so he couldn't go off on someone else like I did with Pops."

Dai pondered that for a second before nodding in acceptance and continued his questions, "What about you?"

"I'm… annoyed," the martial artist hedged, still holding his chin lightly, looking towards the water's edge at their feet. Finally dropping his hand with another shrug, he stated, "It could be worse; look at Hiroshi." Turning his eyes towards the young man next to him, he quirked a brow and asked, "But what about you?"

Scrunching his own brows in confusion, Dai asked back, "What 'about' me?"

"All three of us got hit with some mojo, and then me and Hiro get changed," Ranma pointed out, recapping last night. "You're the last one to ask. You okay or what?"

Finally having it placed directly in front of him, Ranma watched Dai do a quick pat down of himself before giving a shrug in response. "Everything's here, man. No extra parts and nothing gone," he stated with a slight grin, happy to be the best off of the trio.

"Well, at least that's one of us," Ranma commented, scratching behind where one of his human ears used to be before a look of wrongness grew on his face. "Man, that feels weird…"

"So… Where's Hiroshi at?" The taller brown haired teen asked, glancing around slightly.

"He's," the raven haired martial artist started to reply before stalling, trying to think of an acceptable response, "… adjusting." Seeing the blank look slowly turning into a perverted leer on Dai's face, Ranma cut in with a harsher voice, "He's taking a piss, alright? And don't bug him about it. It's freaking embarrassing! I know 'exactly' how he feels!"

Quickly raising his hands up in surrender, Dai backed off a step, "Okay, okay! Nothing from me, alright?"

"Fine," the Saotome heir accepted with a nod before turning his head back towards the shack. Hiroshi was visibly fighting the blush still adorning her face as she became visible from behind the shack. Locking knowing and understanding eyes with the new girl, the martial artists nodded solemnly.

Quirking his brow at the event, seeing the white ears twitch and twist in direction just before Ranma turned his head, Daisuke asked, "You could hear him?"

"He stepped on a stick," Ranma explained away, silently noting the increased hearing he seemed to have now.

Watching the caped girl make her way towards them, Dai commented, "You know, he makes a cute girl."

"You would say that," Ranma replied with a roll of his eyes before warning, "Better not let him hear you say that though."

"Damn straight," the brown eyed male replied under his breath with a nod, watching his changed friend close the distance to join the duo. Once Hirohsi had shyly stepped up to them, Daisuke blinked before stating, "You're short."

Expression flashing from shyness to sharp anger, Hiroshi crossed her arms under her breasts while replying, "Good fuckin' morning to you, too." The fact that she had to turn her head up to look her childhood friend in the face just drove the point he stated home. If she had to guess, she'd lost around ten centimeters with the change leaving her around a hundred and fifty-six centimeters in height now.

"Jeeze, sorry," the denim vest wearing boy shot back, holding his hands in surrender for the second time in just as many minutes. Glancing towards Ranma, who just gave him a 'deal with it' shrug and grin, Daisuke cleared his throat before pointedly changing the subject, "So… What's the plan?"

Seeing both of the other teens turn towards him, Ranma blinked and asked, "What're you both looking at me for?"

"You're the one who was on that training journey," Hiroshi replied, the higher pitched voice still throwing off the other two teens as she raised a finger. "You're the kickass martial artist here," she added, bringing up finger number two which was followed by the third, "and we've never gone camping…"

"Other than that trip up Mt Fuji but that was nothing like this," Daisuke finished, getting a nod of agreement from the copper haired girl.

Looking between his two friends, Ranma thought about their points and the times he had to lead, usually hostile, martial artists towards a common goal. Finally giving a shrug, he pointed towards the south around the lake curvature, "I saw a stream over that way while I was getting firewood last night. I figure we can follow it till we hit a road or something."

"Sounds good to me," Hiroshi said, looking off in that direction. "Any idea where we are, though?" She asked, flipping some errant strands of copper hair over her shoulders.

Cupping his chin, the cat eared teen thought of locations they might be at based off the terrain, his newly acquired cat tail flipping back and forth behind him. "It's been a while but I guess this could be Towada."

"Isn't that the one up north, in Aomori?" Daisuke asked, the name triggering something.

"Yeah, that's it," Ranma confirmed with a nod. Looking around once more, the edges of his lips quirked down as he said, "Only thing is, even though it's early, you'd see at least one boat fishing on the water." Chalking it up to just luck, he stated, "Either way, we're just burning time now."

"Works for me," Daisuke agreed with a shrug. Gesturing to the south, which Ranma had indicated earlier, he ushered, "Lead on, man."

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"Shit," Daisuke exclaimed as his foot slipped off the mossy root; a second curse blasting out once ass met dirt. Glaring at his traitorous sneakers, the short haired teen pushed himself into a sitting position before placing the brown leather cowboy hat back onto his head.

"You okay over there?" Ranma asked, stepping over towards the downed teen. Reaching out with a helping hand, he pulled the taller male back to his feet, giving him a once over with his clear blue eyes for any damage.

Dusting his blue denim jeans off with a hand, Daisuke replied with a grimace, "Yeah, just my pride." Looking around at the dense forest, he commented, "Just wish I had a set of boots like you two."

"I'd give 'em to you, but they wouldn't fit," Ranma said with a shrug. "Me and Pop went all over Japan and China barefoot, for the most part." Scratching the back of his neck, he admitted, "Probably more due to not having any cash than anything, though Pops would always go off about 'Path of the Martial Artist' and stuff."

"Yeah, you talked about that before," Hiroshi stated while using both hands to try and pop her lower back. A grimace graced her face as she stretched and twisted, trying to work some kinks out.

Looking at the caped girl, Daisuke asked, "You okay, man?"

"My back and legs are killing me," the copper haired teen replied, pain and frustration in her voice. "We've only been walking for a couple hours, right? So, why am I so messed up?"

"Yeah, it's weird," the brown haired male agreed, "Figured I'd be the first one to wear out. What with you being one of the top long distance runners on the guy's track team. And Ranma… well, he's Ranma."

At that, Ranma just blinked in epiphany, something smashing into his brain which made him smack a hand to his face. "I'm such an idiot…"

"Idiot? How?" Daisuke asked, leaning up against the tree who's root he slipped on.

"Hiro's problem," he replied, gesturing towards the now seated girl. "Had the same problem, too. Should of remembered it earlier, sorry."

Resting on the small boulder nearby, Hiroshi raised an eyebrow, her red irises holding confusion. "What problem?"

"How do I put this," Ranma muttered, more to himself. Giving a snap of his fingers, he pointed directly towards the copper haired Hiroshi and stated, "You're walking like a guy."

"Yeah, and…?" Hiroshi replied, her high soprano voice carrying her questioning tone.

"And that's the problem," Ranma stated as a matter of fact.

Cocking his head to the side, not getting the connection, Dai inquired, "You're not making any sense, man. What's that have to do with anything?"

"Everything," the pig tailed cat person responded, with a smile on his lips. Pointing once more at the frustrated girl, he continued, "You're still walkin' like a guy… but you're not a guy anymore. That's why your back and hips are jacked up."

"What." Hiroshi flatly replied, not processing the answer. Dai seemed to equally be confused as he took of his hat to scratch his head, silently mouthing Ranma's words.

"Yeah, it's true. I had the same issue when I first went girl," Ranma confided with certainty. A moment later he amended his statement, "Well, not exactly immediately but after jumping around after Pop for an hour, I sure felt the pain. Wasn't the worst I'd felt but was damn annoying." Seeing he had both their attentions, he just continued, "Damn thing was, it took me almost a week to figure it out, what with being on the run from Shampoo and Pop's constant push towards the coast. Never had enough time to just sit and think about it."

"So how'd you figure it out?" Hiroshi asked, interest clear in her voice as she leaned forward slightly.

"I, err…," the martial artist started to explain before the memory caught up with him, causing him to blush slightly in embarrassment while scratching at his cheek. Coughing into his free hand, he turned his head away slightly as he sheepishly replied, "It wasn't until I got hit on in one of the towns. Said I had a nice rack but I walked like a dude."

Hearing snickering coming from his left, Ranma turned his head and yelled, "Shut up! I kicked his ass for it!" Inside his head, Ranma had to concede that was a lie. He had kicked the 'suave male's' ass for groping Ranma's ass while whispering how he'd show 'her' how to move like a 'good girl'. Feeling the blush on his cheeks, the pigtailed teen plowed on, "Anyways, I had time to think about it that night, what with Pop blitzed out of his mind for the first time in weeks."

"So, long story short, I practiced for a couple nights before figuring it out," Ranma finally stated.

"Figured what out?" Hiroshi asked, entranced and on the edge of the rock, not having heard this before from the pigtailed fighter.

Shrugging, Ranma stated, "You just have to let go."

Not expecting an answer like that in the slightest, the Lina lookalike crossed her gloved hands below her modest breasts, "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Scratching the back of his neck, trying to reword it in his head, Ranma finally clarified, "Just quit forcing the 'guy walk' and let your body do its thing for a bit. After a while, it sorta becomes second nature when a girl, at least for me it is." Deciding to give a hint to help his friend out, he added, "Just start by moving your hips more than your shoulders and let it go from there."

"You gonna give Hiro an example?" Daisuke asked with a snarky grin from beside his tree.

"Bite me, Dai," Ranma stated with a rude gesture, "I'm not going to 'girl walk' just so you can laugh."

"It was completely for Hiro's sake," the cowboy hat wearing teen assured with a wide smile.

"Right…," Ranma just sarcastically stressed while rolling his eyes. Looking back towards the girl who was sitting in thought, he reiterated, "Like I said, just let it come to you and don't force it. It'll get easier as you go, whether you want it or not." Looking from Hiroshi to Daisuke, he asked, "So, you guys ready to go?"

"Let's head out," Dai said with a thumbs up, pushing off his tree.

"Just… take it slow," Hiro requested as she stood up from the boulder. "I want to get this down sooner than later. This freaking hurts!"

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"Doing better?"

Glancing to the martial artist on her right, the girl nodded. "It's still feels… off, I guess," her reply measured as Hiroshi tried to translate feelings to words. "It's getting better, though. Thanks for the help, Ranma," she elaborated, favoring her friend with a smile.

"No problem," Ranma responded, patting the shorter teen lightly on the back, "Like I said, I know exactly what you're going through and…"

"You two want some time alone," Daisuke snarked with a grin, cutting into the conversation from a safe distance, before taking another bite of the apple in his hand. Earlier in their travel, they had found a tree with said fruit, picking a few of the ripe ones for a breakfast on the go. Lacking any backpacks, they were limited to what they could take with them to what they could hold in their hands.

All three still continuing their trek through the forest, the other two shot the tallest of the trio with glares. "Shut it, Dai," Ranma curtly demanded before jerking his thumb towards a tree nearby, "unless you want help getting to the top of the next tree for food. I can get you up there real quick…"

"Fine! Fine," the short haired teen responded, verbally backing down, "I'll be good."

Snorting, the humor twisting her lips, Hiroshi replied, "That'd be a first." Hearing her childhood friend's indignant 'Hey', she let out single laugh, "I'm just messin' with you."

"Yeah, yeah," Dai said with good enough nature, seeing Ranma silently grinning nearby. Taking one last bite from the apple before tossing the core to the side, he asked up a moment later, "So, how long have we been going for, you think?"

Looking upward towards the canopy at the question, Ranma let out a thoughtful noise. "I'd say it's around… four to five hours now. Maybe close to noon. What does your watch say?"

"Been flashing all eights," Daisuke responded, holding up his right wrist which had the electronic watch on it. "Only checked it after finding that tree, so it could have been this way since last night. Haven't been able to get it working since."

"That sucks," the blue eyed Saotome responded, though not really inconvenienced by it. He'd lasted years without knowing exactly what time it was, he'd do fine without one again.

"Hey, wait up a sec," the girl of the group called out, halting her movement while pointing off to their far left with an arm. "You guys see that?"

Following her gloved hand, the two guys looked off in the near distance. After a couple seconds of silence, Dai spoke up, "You mean the giant beetles eating the giant mushroom thing?"

"Yeah… that," she hesitantly answered. "So I'm not seeing things…"

Shaking his head slightly, Ranma watched the beetles happily and slowly chewing away on the mushroom thing, "Nope. I see it too."

"So… ever see anything like that before?" Dai asked, taking his hat off to run a hand through his short black hair.

"Sorta," he replied, before countering a second later, "Not exactly… I mean, Ryugenzawa had some giant animals but I mean giant as in, big as this tree." He patted the flat leaf sapling he was standing next to, easily seven meters tall and edging closer to eight. "These things are huge, don't get me wrong, but…"

Seeing the martial artist giving a shrug, Hiroshi tucked some hair behind an ear in thought. "What about anything like this at Towada?"

"Nope, nothing like huge beetles," Ranma easily replied. Making a gesture with his hand, he added, "There were some wolves there. Pop used them for speed training, but they were normal sized." Shrugging again and seeing the beetles docilely continuing to feed, he started back up walking.

"How do you use wolves for speed training?" Daisuke asked, utterly confused at the concept.

"Tie some meat to the trainee, get the attention of a wolf pack and start the trainee running," Ranma clinically answered, conveniently omitting the scared out of his mind screaming. "The wolves instinctively chase the fleeing trainee and continue the chase due to the smell of raw meat. If the trainee is too fast for the wolves to keep up, just add weight."

"That's insane," Hiroshi exclaimed in mild shock, recognizing this was Ranma explaining the training method.

Nodded with wide eyes as he walked nearby, Dai asked, "How'd you survive that?"

"Learned to run real fast and keep it up," the martial artist replied in an offhand matter.

"How old were you?" Dai followed up.

Cocking his head for a moment, Ranma just as easily replied, "Was around twelve or something. Can't remember exactly."

Putting the pieces together, Hiroshi stated, "Your dad is insane."

"A little… probably," Ranma acquiesced before stating, "But most of the crap he put me through worked. Course, the stuff that didn't… Well, sucked."

"I bet," Dai commented from the side, ignoring the glaring understatement in his friend's last words.

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"Woohoo," Daisuke whooped out a cheerful cry into the air along with pumping a fist skyward. "It's about freaking time," he yelled out in part complaint, part celebration, as he set foot onto the hard beaten dirt road worn into the forest floor between a clear cut swath.

"You got that right," Hiroshi agreed as she felt the light ruts of wheel tracks beneath her boots.

"Yeah, the only thing now is… Which way do we go?" Ranma asked out, looking in either direction for some landmarks or signs of recent travel. This was troublesome due to the road in both directions curving back into the trees, hindering sight past around two to three hundred meters.

"You're the one leading the fiasco," Hiroshi responded with a wave of her hand, "Lead on."

"Yeah," Daisuke pitched in with a nod, "It's not like we know what the hell we're doing out here."

Considering that for a second, Ranma just gave a shrug before pointing to the east, "We'll go that way then." His direction chosen because the eastern path twisted to the south while the western went back north. "Hopefully, we'll meet up with someone or hit a sign, town or something."

"That'd be cool," Daisuke agreed as he followed Ranma down the path, Hiroshi at his side.

Hiroshi was examining the tracks in the dirt as they walked, the path going through small ravines to come back out. After a bit, she pointed out, "These tracks don't look like car tracks."

"Yeah, I noticed," Ranma agreed. "They look sorta like the cart tracks I saw in the backwater of China."

"Whatever," the cowboy hat wearing teen dismissed, "Just as long as they aren't hostile like Shampoo was when she first showed up."

Grimacing at the thought, the pigtailed teen nodded. "Yeah… That would be bad." Looking at his companions to gauge their condition, he asked, "You guys up for a lot of running if that happens?"

Both Dai and Hiro stopped their forward progress at that question, the grim thought permeating their brains.

"Some… I guess," Dai answered hesitantly, rubbing the back of his neck, "Sure."

"I think I'll be good," the red eyed girl replied just as warily. She had picked up a 'girl walk' relatively quickly, personally owing it more to Ranma's tip than her own ability. It would be a little too much blow to her ego to say she just picked up a sway to her hips that quick all on her own. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that…"

"Hope for the best, expect the worse," Ranma stated in response, starting the trio's trek back up. "Pops got that one right. Problem is, he rarely thinks about the worst when the 'best' is right in his face."

"Who doesn't?" The denim wearing young man countered with a shrug.

Ranma chose to silently accept the correction as they continued their walk.

It was around a half hour later that the martial artist came to a dead stop, throwing an arm out to stop his companions. Both of the civilian teens watched as the white ears on Ranma's head twitched their orientation like a real cat's, while the white tipped black furred tail swished and twitched agitatedly.

After a few seconds of looking around them warily, Dai quietly asked out, "What's up?"

"Something feels… off," the black haired teen replied in a near hiss. Pointing towards the tree line, the martial artist led his friend out of the road, hoping to be more concealed from whatever was making him feel so out of place.

Waiting a minute or so in near silence, the teens could feel the anticipation weighing on their shoulders. Hiroshi couldn't take it much longer and hissed out, "Let's just keep going! Nothing's happening!"

Seeing that Dai agreed, even if he didn't say anything verbal, Ranma let out a breath and nodded. "Alright, let's keep going, but keep quiet and near the trees." Seeing the nods of his friends, he finally stated as he started moving forward, "Just stay behind me and be ready for anything."

Glancing towards each other, Dai and Hiro silently followed, keeping a close distance between themselves and their martial artist point man.

The trio's progress was noticeably slower than before, Ranma keeping watch around the area while still keeping track of his friends. Just as he came up to a sharp turn in the road. his concentration was shattered a while later as the cacophony of battle cry's bellowed into the air.

"WHHHAAAAA!"

Even as his friends were starting to panic, Ranma felt the familiar feeling of adrenaline shooting through his veins as he shot up to the next tree forward. Behind him, he heard the two following him throwing their meager stealth to the wind to catch up as Ranma looked around the large tree he reached. As his blue eyes took in the sight a few hundred meters down the road from their position, Ranma let out a short emphatic curse, "Fuckin' shit!"

Those words shot each of his friends blood pressures through the roof as Ranma watched the dozen odd yellow-green skinned humanoids charging towards a small caravan of two wagons and a handful of people on foot. The next instant, one of the defenders was on the ground, an arrow protruding from a shoulder.

"I'm going in! Watch yourselves," the martial artist called out even as he rounded the tree in a full sprint, the greenskins just engaging in melee combat with the pressed defenders. Behind him, Daisuke looked around the broadleafed tree to see the pigtailed teen sprinting and the action beyond him.

After a moment of indecision, he unconsciously drew his revolver and followed at a slower run; his right hand loading the gun on autopilot from his belt. Not wanting to be left behind, Hiroshi followed in the rear, unsure as to what exactly she could do in this growing grand melee.

Before him, Ranma could see the defenders make some successful counters, two of the large green skinned men falling before them, but more just took their place. Finally getting within range, he let off a cry as a bright blue ki blast flew towards one of the archers trying to take pot shots into the scrum. It connected an instant later, blasting the flatfooted archer head over heels to tumble through the dirt.

Three blasts of gunfire rang out from behind him soon after, causing Ranma to jerk his gaze around to see the last plume of smoke wafting away from Daisuke's pistol. Seeing the teen retract his gun to change out the spent bullets, the martial artist faced forward to find the other archer laying in the dirt unmoving. Resolving to figure out the new twist later, the Saotome heir pushed out another burst of speed to interject into the skirmish.

Discounting the two casualties inflicted on the aggressors directly inflicted by Ranma and Dai, their interference gave the defenders openings to take down two more of their attackers, at the cost of one more of their own.

Initiating close quarters combat, Ranma leaped into the fray with a solidly placed flying side kick, connecting with the unarmored head of a hundred and ninety centimeter tall mass of muscle and fury with a loud yell. The ki empowered strike still flung the armored warrior five meters to land before yet another wall of muscle on the defending team. A moment later, the black armored giant of a man stomped down, crushing the dazed combatant's skull with a sickening squishing crunch.

Staying out at a respectful range, Dai finished reloading and sighted his pistol before quickly jerking towards a different target; a man wielding a great axe managing to cleave into the greenskin's chest through its neck. Trying to sight on the new target, who was advancing on one of the downed defenders, Dai's concentration was shattered as he heard Hiro shriek from behind him.

Jerking around to the rear, the gun wielding teen felt ice run through his veins as the sight of two green skinned masses of death advancing on Hiroshi's downed form. Time seemed to slow down, Hiroshi rolling over to face her attackers, as Dai brought his gun to bare.

Firing off his first round, he could see the bullet arcing through the air to impact the armor of his target with a flash of sparks. Adjusting his aim slightly, his second shot rang out, causing a small spray of green blood to fly out of the now flinching humanoid. Moving his gun one last time, he pulled the trigger, the right side of the target's skull disintegrating in a spray of blood and bone.

Even as he started sighting on the second target, Dai cringed as he knew he was a second too late. As the greenskin started flashing out with its dull-grey metal sword, the gun slinging male saw the prone girl extend an arm in vain defense.

Then the sword wielding attacker exploded in a mess of fire and pressure; the blackened and burnt body flying back to lay still a few meters away.

Dropping his pistol arm to rest at his left hip, Daisuke just stared in shock. He saw Hiroshi retract her extended hand and stare at it for a second before it fell limp to the ground; the girl passing out. "Shit," he exclaimed in frustration as he sprinted towards his incapacitated friend, warily keeping watch for any further ambushes.

Coming up from behind one of the engaged greenskins, Ranma flashed out a low kick; snapping the thing's right knee. As it started toppling to the ground, it's footing collapsed, the cat eared woman it was attacking thrust forward with her sword. Even as it hit the ground, the greenskin gurgled to its death as it choked on its own green blood from the neck wound destroying its trachea.

Immediately searching around for the next target, Ranma found only one greenskin left alive being held in the air by its throat. The raven armored giant wielding the greatsword sneered into the greenskin's face, even as it weakly clawed at the giant's gauntleted arm. As Ranma watched, he saw the green thing's face grow gaunt and it's red eyes rolling back into its head, all the while the giant scowled. Steam seemed to be wafting off the giant's legs, where random cuts showed skin through his pants.

"Quit playing with your food, Fang," a male voice called out, the normal sized human wielding the greataxe.

The giant, now named Fang, just grunted before twisting his grip and breaking the thing's neck. He dropped the cooling corpse, letting it fall to the ground with a dead thud before looking towards Ranma. Through the narrow visor slit, the pigtailed martial artist locked eyes with a pair of pale grey irises; Fang's gaze seemed like it was going through the blue eyed youth. Time lagged before the silent giant slowly nodded and turned away, still saying nothing.

"Jax! Get over here," a female voice cried out, urgency clear in her voice. Turning his gaze, Ranma saw the cat eared woman kneeling over a body nearby, an arrow shaft thrusting out from its shoulder. Hearing the armor clad 'Jax' quickly complying, his armor clanking slightly, Ranma looked around for any further threats, though his instincts told him that the danger had passed.

That's when he laid eyes on Hiroshi's prone form with Dai kneeling beside it.

"Crap, crap, crap," he cursed under his breath, sprinting towards his friends to help. Pulling up seconds later, he sharply demanded, "What happened?!"

"Two more came from behind," Dai replied with a near calm voice, though some other emotions were mixed in. "I… killed one but…," he said brokenly, having to swallow before continuing, "Hiro had to, I don't know, explode it."

"Explode it," the martial artist parroted in confusion, the tip of his tail flipping back and forth slowly.

Shrugging, at a loss, Dai just confirmed the statement, "Yeah, exploded it." Finally feeling safe enough to holster his pistol, Dai took his hat off to run a hand through his hair. "I got the first one, but I didn't have enough time and…," he continued explaining, having to take a breath, "the thing was about to stab him. Hiro just pointed his hand at it and it; boom." He just pointed towards the still and charred corpse laying nearby.

Looking from the corpse to his unconscious friend, Ranma asked, "He okay, then?"

The brown eyed teen nodded. "As far I know, he just passed out."

Nodding back, Ranma kneeled by the redhead's right shoulder while motioning that Dai move to the other side. "Okay, let's carry him over to these guys. Maybe they can help us while we wait for Hiro to wake up."

"Sounds like a plan," the denim clad teen agreed, lifting up the limp girl's body by the shoulder like they had the night before. "So, any clue what those 'things' were?"

"No idea," Ranma replied, looking towards the two people kneeling over the laid out body, "but that's one of the first thing's I'm planning on asking."

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"This is gonna hurt like a bitch, Cor," Jax stated with a straight face.

"Just get it out," a strained and quiet male voice responded.

Shifting her position slightly, the cat eared female in a red leather hat stated calmly, "Okay, get ready Cor. It'll be over soon." Looking to the armored man beside her, she said, "Ready, Jax? On three… One. Two. Three. GO!"

On 'go', Jax ripped the arrow from Cor's shoulder, eliciting a sharp scream of agony which died off as the woman placed her glowing hands on the gushing wound. Within seconds, Cor's screams turned into heavy breathing as the flow of blood slowed. After a minute, the woman pulled back her bloody hands, sweat covering her brow and her own breath heavy.

"I think it's done," she stated, weariness in her voice as she reached over to wipe her hands on a cloth laying nearby.

From his position on the ground, Cor found breath to ask, "What about Fang and Gosh?"

"Fang is Fang," Jax replied, as if it explained the giant's status completely. The man's expression dropped sour as he finished, "Gosh didn't make it. Damn squashface got him right through the head, nothing we could do." Cor just made a grunting noise from where he lay in response.

"Just lay there for a while and let the magic do its thing," the woman commanded to the downed man. "Jax, go check on the drivers and cargo. I'm pretty sure Fang already did the cargo but…," she directed, changing her conversational target as she stood up.

"Yeah, yeah," the man replied with a lazy wave, "I'm on it. The joys of babysitting."

"Just remember those 'babies' are paying for your ale and whores," she reprimanded with a light tone.

Looking offended, Jax put a hand to his heart. "I'll have you know, I get my drinks for free!" Flashing a quick smirk, he wandered off to set about the business at hand.

Shaking her head, spiky red hair swaying with the movement, the woman smiled lightly as she turned towards the unknown trio. It was only a quick glance before she gasped, "Oh my god! Is she okay?"

"He's just passed out from stress," Ranma replied, shifting the dead weight on his shoulder.

"Well, lay her out over here and I'll make sure that's it," the cat eared, and tailed, woman directed with a wave of her arm. "By the way, my name's Kitoria."

"Name's Ranma," the pigtailed youth stated as he and his friend dragged Hiroshi's form to the indicated spot in the shade of a wagon.

"I'm Daisuke and this heavy bastard is Hiroshi," Daisuke both introduced and complained at the same time.

Once they laid out the copper haired girl, Kitoria kneeled down to examine her, passing a hand over her which glowed a pale blue. After scanning the main torso, she held the hand over Hiro's head. Finally placing the glowing hand onto her forehead, the catgirl closed her eyes and concentrated for a moment. A few seconds later, the glow faded with a slight caress of the copper hair.

Looking up from the girl, Kitoria stood up with warm smile and stated with certainty, "She's going to be fine. She just exhausted her mana stores." Glancing down at the softly breathing Hiroshi, the fiery haired catgirl added, "I cast an enchantment to help out with that. It will let her accept the replacement mana more easily for a while. If I'm right, she should be awake soon enough."

"Thanks for your help," Daisuke said, bowing deeply to the catgirl in the red leather jacket.

Kitoria just waved it off with a smile. "Nah, you three really saved our asses. It's the least I could do to return the favor."

"Yeah, actually, we've got a lot of questions that need answers," Ranma explained, rubbing the back of his neck, "If you wouldn't mind… Once Hiro wakes up."

"That shouldn't be a problem," Kitoria replied with an interested brow raise, "After she wakes up, then. For now, I've got to go check on Cor and make sure the idiot hasn't ripped open his shoulder by moving around." With that, she walked over towards the other wagon where Cor was laid out.

"So, what do you think," Ranma asked, looking over Hiroshi's resting body.

"I think that Kitoria has a smoking body," Daisuke stated, face holding a serious countenance.

Ranma just bit his tongue before asking, "Anyways, how are you holding up?"

"Pretty good, considering I just blew away two… of those green things, whatever they are, and almost watched my best friend get killed before my eyes," the now blooded gunslinger replied with an offhanded wave.

"I hurt too much to be dead," Hiroshi's pained voice floated up from the dirt, the girl raising a hand to her forehead as she winced.

"You okay, man?" Daisuke asked, kneeling down to help the redhead up to a sitting position.

Giving a bleary eyed glare towards her best friend, she sarcastically replied, "If you think having a headache worse than the time we found your dad's sake stash is okay, then yeah."

"That would be the standard reaction to mana exhaustion," a rich male voice intoned, footsteps encroaching on the trio. Turning their gaze over towards the approaching man, they found an extremely tall man in a royal blue tunic and pants, his pointed ears sticking out a few inches from his head through his long raven hair. Seeing his left arm in a bloody white sling, he held out a full water skin with his right in offering.

"Let me introduce myself; I am Corellon Del'Norta and leader of this security escort," he stated, his voice steady and commanding. Once Ranma had accepted both the introduction and drink from his hand, Corellon inclined his head, "Once the lady mage is ready to move and have secured our fallen, we shall answer your questions as we travel; the least we can do for your much appreciated assistance to our grave situation."

"Now, if you will excuse me," he continued, "I must attend once more to my client."

Watching the tall elf walk off, Hiroshi wondered out loud, "You guys picture Kuno when he talks, too?"

"He isn't trying to kill me or date me. That's all I care about," Ranma stated with a shake of his head. Handing over the skin full of water to Hiroshi, he said, "He's right about one thing; we need to get out of here before more of those green guys show up."

Hiroshi just nodded in thanks before taking a long draw from the skin. As the soothing water went down her throat, her thoughts went over the last few seconds of the fight; from the look of bloodlust in the green man's eyes to the explosion of power which she felt right before he burst into flames. At that thought, the copper haired girl couldn't help but grin at the lingering feeling of consuming power coursing through her at that moment in time, even over the extreme danger right then and dull throb in her head now.

Pulling up a gloved hand to look at it, the red eyed newly discovered mage found herself compelled with the drive to get that feeling of comforting power once more...

- End of Chapter

oO0Oo

A/N - Figured people would wonder what the character's heights are, considering it was mentioned that Hiroshi is shorter now after the transformation. Here's a height chart from tallest to shortest in the group in centimeters / inches:

Daisuke - 169 / 66.5

Ranma(male) - 167 / 65.7

Hiroshi(male) - 166 / 65.3

Hiroshi(female) - 156 / 61.4

Ranma(female) - 155 / 61.0


	3. Chapter 3

Crystal Memories  
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfiction  
Author: Konsaki

The flames of the small fire reflecting off his face felt good in contrast to the cool night air to his back. Sitting there in the long but stamped down grass, on the edge of the forest and plains they stopped to camp at, Ranma poked at the fire with a stick to stir the embers. Watching the sparks fly up with the updraft crafted by the fire, the white eared catboy saw one of his friends sit down nearby.

"Man, what a day," Daisuke stated, taking off his leather hat to place it on the ground at his side.

The martial artist just nodded silently, thinking about it for a moment before asking, "Where's Hiro?"

"He's crashed out," the denim vested teen replied, running a hand through his messed up hair. "Guess that mana thing is still hitting him."

"Yeah, that elf guy, Corelan said that's normal," Ranma replied with a shrug, looking across the moonlit area towards what he guessed was Hiroshi's sleeping form.

"It's Corellan, man," Dai countered, eyeing the elf eared man laying back to look into the night sky. Scratching his scalp through his short black hair, he drug his gaze over the other people sitting at other fires or in the dim night. "Never would have thought we'd wind up in Lodoss Wars or something," he mused.

Hearing the referenced manga, Ranma scrunched his brow. "Don't think there were mithra in Lodoss, Dai," the long haired fighter stated, looking over towards the mithran catgirl who was looking quite annoyed with an animatedly gesturing Jax. Whatever he was saying wasn't carrying over the distance, though, even though he seemed to be trying to talk quite loudly.

After a couple moments of silence, the taller high-schooler leaned over to match line of sight with his friend. "Looking at your new fiancée?"

"What the hell?" Ranma growled in surprise, jerking away, "She's not a fiancée, idiot!"

Pulling back to a more comfortable distance, and safer distance, Dai put up a finger, "One, you're giving her the 'look'…"

"I'm not giving her the 'look'," the catboy nearly hissed, his tail lashing back and forth with his hears laid back. "She's not a fiancée," he reiterated, glaring directly into his friend's eyes.

Grinning, but lowering his hand, Daisuke shrugged it off. "We'll she's something, the way you two were sniffing each other earlier," he alluded to, trailing off at the increased heat the martial artist was giving him. "What? Even Hiro said the same thing when it happened," he both asked and justified his statement.

Ranma just pinched the bridge of his nose, his tail and ears falling into more neutral positions unconsciously as he remembered the specific event his friend was exaggerating about…

A while after the battle, Ranma had broken away from his friends to move over towards the slightly older catgirl, letting Dai help support the flagging Hiroshi. Siding up to the young woman, they walked in silence for a few moments, listening to the sounds of the metal rimmed wooden wagon wheels traverse the packed dirt. Finally, he glanced over towards her, eyeing the fiery red furred ears hidden in her similarly colored hair, asking, "So… Where'd you get your ears and tail?"

Seeing as she had been eyeing him as well out the corner of her vision, Kitoria jerked her head fully towards him, face showing complete confusion. "What? Get my…," she tried to respond a mild blush growing on her cheeks, clearly not expecting that question. Gathering her composure a moment later with a small smile, she replied, "That's… definitely a new pickup line, I guess."

It was Ranma's turn to look perplexed for a moment, before he raised his hands up before him, "Whoa, no, no, no! Not a pickup line!" Watching her face change emotions, he quickly continued on, "I'm literally asking where and when you got them."

Squinting her eyes, mystified once more, she stated as a matter of fact, "I was born with them, same as you."

The martial artist just looked at her in silence for a few moments, blinking his eyes as he flicked from her bright green eyes to her red ears and back. Clearing his throat, he hesitantly said, "Ah… I've only had these for less than a day."

Looking into his clear blue eyes, Kitoria leaned in to invade his personal space and took a deep breath through her nose. Frowning as she pulled back, to his confusion, she accused, "You're pulling my tail."

"What?" The black haired teen asked, not getting the phrase.

"You're making fun of me," she clarified, as well as accused again, crossing her arms over her chest with a frown.

"What? No, I'm not," Ranma countered, shaking his head before jabbing a finger to the white ears sticking out of his raven mane, "Yesterday, I didn't have these and I sure as hell didn't have a cat tail."

Seeing the sincerity in his face, Kitoria felt a little unsure about her own position, slowly uncrossing her arms. "Are you sure? You 'smell' like one of us… A Mithra," the slightly shorter catgirl said, taking another shorter sniff just to make sure.

"Damn sure," Ranma verified with a nod, "These were just costume pieces before Hiroshi set off some magic smoke or something." Shrugging, he added, "It's not the weirdest thing I've had happen to me, but I was definitely human before all that."

"But you smell Mithran," she declared, uncertainty filling her voice.

"Yeah, about that," he started to say, gesturing towards the female mithra walking beside him, "what do you mean, 'I smell like a mithra'?"

"You smell mithran, just like I should," the woman in the tan leather jacket declared, nodding as she gestured towards the tall pointed eared man glancing in their direction, "and Cor smells Elvaan, Fang smells like a Galka and Jax smells like a human." Finally pointing towards the nearest driver of a wagon she added ,"and he's Tarutaru!" Seeing her conversational partner blinking at her words, she asked, "How can you not smell them?"

"Hey, I can smell them easy," Ranma hissed back in a hushed volume, before switching to a bashful countenance, "I… just figured they hadn't bathed in a couple days or something…"

Kitoria just stared at him intently for a few seconds, causing the martial artist to scratch the back of his neck and averting his gaze. After a few seconds, she broke her gaze as she started giggling, which quickly grew into full laughter. Ranma's face just grew a bright flush as she choked out a broken parrot of his last words, much to his embarrassment.

"The look on your face was priceless," Daisuke stated as he threw another few broken sticks into the campfire.

Scowling from his own seat, Ranma wanted to cry that it wasn't his fault that he didn't notice his sense of smell was stronger than before. Hell, all his senses seemed amped up compared to before the magic shop fiasco. Tired off the smirk on Dai's face and looking for some payback, he stated, "At least I'm not the guy that yelled out, 'Holy shit, it's real!' like a mad Kuno."

"Hey," the brown eyed male quietly exclaimed, "So, I didn't think about the gun working before that. I've had a lot on my mind, what with giant Ork dickheads trying to kill Hiroshi."

"Fine, fine," the Saotome heir tried to calm his friend down, "I guess the magic crap must'a messed with your head, making it normal or something."

Mollified somewhat, Daisuke thought about it some. "It does feel sorta… normal, to be wearing this thing, I guess."

Looking out over the combined camp, and noticing that Fang seemed to be the only other person awake, Ranma warned, "That might not be the only thing that smoke did to mess with your head. Considering everything I've got caught up in, you're probably not gonna notice so me and Hiro'll keep an eye out."

"That's… kinda scary," Dai said, his brown eyes going wide.

"Don't get worked up about it," the martial artist comforted, patting his friend on the shoulder, "it's probably just some more skills or some shit for the gun." Moving a little distance away from both fire and friend, he laid out to look into the star filled sky. "Just get some sleep, Dai. It's probably going to be another long day tomorrow too."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Daisuke agreed, though not identifying to which statement, settling himself out in the soft grass nearby.

Closing his blue eyes, blocking off the sight of twinkling stars and a slightly icy blue tinted moon, Ranma took a deep breath to calm down. As sleep took him, he could only wonder what he'd forgotten and where the next day would take him…

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"Sent to the future?" the human wearing a dull and scarred breastplate parroted in confusion, scratching his head through the short blonde hair.

"Well, it's an idea," Hiroshi said in response, shrugging her shoulders slightly.

Looking from the shorter, by almost a full head length, redheaded girl towards her cowboy hat wearing companion, Jax moved his hand down to rub at his neck while letting out a hum. Pointing towards Daisuke's hip, the warrior stated, "I don't know… I've seen pistols before, but nothing like what your friend has." Nodding at his own words, he added, "Something like that looks like it came straight out of Cid's own workshop."

Seeing Dai draw and examine his unloaded revolver, Hiroshi modified her earlier words. "Okay, so… Post-Apocalyptic future, then." Shrugging again, she brushed some annoying copper locks out of her face while adding, "I've read some stories sorta like that, so… It's not that farfetched, I guess."

"I don't know, man," Dai chipped in, holstering his pistol once more, "I'd put my money on being full up in another world." Pointing towards the elvaan walking point for the caravan, he explained his statement, "Corellon said this world was called Von'dole something."

"Vana'diel," the older human male, by two years, corrected without breaking his stride.

"Right, Vana'diel. So, why not call it Earth if, you know, we're still on Earth?" Looking towards the large yellowish colored bird pulling the carts nearby, the brown eye'd teen added, "Besides, the only thing like those Choco bird-things are Ostriches and those are in Australia or Africa or something."

"A wizard did it," Hiroshi replied with a smirk on her pink lips.

Rolling his eyes at his friend's statement, Dai countered, "So a wizard 'did' the non-humans around us, too?"

"Nah, that was Altana," Jax easily answered, before added on seeing the pair's lack of comprehension, " You know, the goddess of light and all that."

Nodding, though not really getting the connection, Dai turned back to Hiroshi, "There you go, man. We're in Record of Lodoss War, not Psyren."

Frowning slightly at her childhood friend's smirk, the copper haired mage turned towards the black haired mithra male walking silently nearby. "What about you, Ranma? What's your idea?"

Looking over his shoulder, both hands linked behind his head, Ranma quirked a brow. He'd been listening in on the entire conversation, but just didn't feel like joining in. Shrugging, the white eared teen stated, "Don't care; doesn't matter." Seeing the sour looks his friends were sending him, he shrugged again. "What? Doesn't change that we're here now."

"That's just a copout answer and you know it, man," Daisuke accused, gesturing towards the martial artist.

"Yeah… so?" Ranma asked, not really caring what Dai thought about it before blinking in surprise a moment later. Looking upward to the cloud covered sky, he felt the next drop splash just under his left eye. "Great," he dead panned, dropping his gaze, along with the edges of his mouth, to look forward into the distance.

As the droplets turned into a light rain, everyone in the caravan let out varying notes of disgust as they fished out cloaks if they had them. After attaching his around his shoulders and pulling the cowl up over his head, Jax looked back towards the martial artist and blinked in recognition. "Am I seeing things or did he just turn into a chick?"

Hearing that question seemed to cause something to click in Hiroshi's mind, the girl thrusting her finger out to point at the changed black haired teen with a yell, "Ahhh!" Not even realizing her yell caused her to be the focus of the caravan she continued to yell in her higher pitched voice, "I can't believe I forgot to try that!"

Quickly trotting over, Kitoria called out, "What's wrong? What's going on?"

Hiroshi loudly replied while jerking her gaze from Ranma, Kitoria, Daisuke and then back to Ranma, "Hot water! I didn't even think to try it!" Smacking a palm of a hand to her forehead she exclaimed, "I'm an idiot!"

"By Altana's tits, what the hell is she going off about?" Jax asked, flexing his right hand in case he needed to do something. Jabbing his left hand to point at the now female Ranma, he then asked the redheaded catgirl, "And is he a she to you too or…"

"Just calm down, Jax," Kitoria said, patting the air with her hands before asking the wary and armored human, "What do you mean 'he's a she'?"

"He's asking about my curse," Ranma responded in a bored tone, having experienced a wide range of reactions to it before. This one was one of the usual ones, confusion and panic, though Hiroshi's hysteria wasn't helping much.

"What curse?" Kitoria asked, turning her green eyes towards the other mithra before blinking. "You're a… girl? What?"

Ignoring Jax's quiet exclamation about not being crazy, Ranma explained, "Picked it up a while back. Basic rundown; cold water equals girl, hot water equals guy." Seeing Kitoria open her mouth, the martial artist quickly added, "I'm a guy with a curse."

Closing her mouth with a click, the green eyed catgirl blinked for a moment before asking, "So, what about her and hot water?" She gestured towards the other redheaded female of the caravan.

"I might have the same curse," Hiroshi responded, drawing attention again, "So I'm pissed that I forgot to try hot water last night."

"You were a guy?" Jax asked out incredulously, looking from Hiroshi to Ranma and back. Seeing the nod of affirmation, he looked decidedly ill as he said, "Okay then… I'll… I'll just go over here." With that, he stumbled away to walk on the other side of the cart where he put a hand to the side of his head.

Rolling her blue eyes at the human's actions, Ranma grabbed the attention again by stating, "Probably won't work anyways, since I still have these."She punctuated her statement by reaching up to point at the white cat ears still poking out of her black hair, while adding, "I'm guessing whatever box of smoke you opened wasn't like Jusenkyo." Seeing the heated look she got in response from Hiroshi, the martial artist just shrugged. "Just sayin'…"

"I know," Hiroshi replied with a sigh, the quick heat seemingly washing out of her voice with the soft rain, "I just have to try, you know?"

"Even if it doesn't," Daisuke broke in, waiving his hands in front of him to fake casting a spell, "you got the hocus pocus and a good looking body, still." Seeing the flat stares directed his way from his female companions, he asked out a confused, "What?"

Turning back to Ranma, the copper haired mage commented with a sigh, "Now I know why you smacked us around back in Furinkan…"

"I hate to admit it, but he does have a point, sort of," Kitoria interjected, drawing the trio's attention. "You could do much worse for looks," the mithra mage stated, looking over the copper haired girl who just frowned at that. Kitoria just smirked while pointing a finger at Daisuke, causing a stream of water not unlike a garden hose spray to shoot into his face, causing him to cry out in surprise and throw his hands up in defense. "The 'Hocus Pocus' also has its advantages, too."

Ignoring Daisuke's protests after the short spray of water stopped, Hiroshi clasped her hands before her as she gazed towards the elder mage with stars in her red eyes. "Please, teach me!" Hiroshi exclaimed loudly, Ranma laughing lightly behind her at both of her friends' reactions.

Drawing back slightly at the unexpectedly energetic request, Kitoria laughed nervously herself. "Ah, I… um…" Composing herself a moment later with a cough, she tried again, "I could, I guess, but I've never… Do you even know the basics?" Seeing the copper haired girl shake her head, not getting what the 'basics' even were for magic, Kitoria suggested, "Well… You really should ask Cor since I've never had to teach anyone before. I think he has some younger brothers, so maybe he's helped them out."

Looking towards the blue tunic wearing man, Hiroshi asked, "You sure?"

"Wouldn't hurt to ask," the barely taller catgirl stated with a shrug. "If he won't, I'll try to help."

"Thanks," the Japanese boy-turned-girl replied with a smile before picking up her speed to catch up to Corellon.

Seeing his childhood friend leaving, Dai flashed a frown towards the slightly older Kitoria before stating, "Yeah, thanks for the shower." With that, he moved over to the other side of the cart to try and pick up a conversation with Jax again.

Watching the male move away, Kitoria heard Ranma's now female voice dismiss the situation, "Don't worry about him, he'll get over it." Turning her head to see the shorter mithra shrug, she heard Ranma add, "It was pretty cool, though; that water trick."

"Thanks, but that was just a basic water spell, nothing special," Kitoria replied with a grin, shrugging her own shoulders. Eyeing the shorter black haired female, Kit asked, "So, you're really from another world?"

"Probably," Ranma replied, looking up towards the sky as the rain finally let up, though the clouds continued to cover the sky. "Like I told the guys, it doesn't really matter," she stated while wringing out her pigtail, "we're here now and that's it."

"It sounds like you don't want to go back," Kitoria pointed out, raising a brow.

Ranma just waived it off with a hand, "Nah, I'll get us back eventually. I'm just trying to think of this as a nice little vacation from everything."

"Huh," the green eyed female started in thought, "that's one way to think about it, I guess."

After a little bit of silence, the pair just continuing pace with the caravan, Ranma looked over and asked with a raised brow, "Not going to ask if I'm 'really a girl'?"

"Don't need to," Kitoria replied with a grin, tapping her nose.

"Huh? Oh…" Getting the message, Ranma scratched the back of her head in mild embarrassment. "So," she started up, "what's the next stop?"

"Ephemere," Kitoria stated before further explaining, "It's the largest lake on the La Theine Plateau and the usual stopping point for travelers on this route."

Nodding in understanding, having stopped at lakes like that with her father during the training trip, Ranma asked, "And then how long till we reach this Sandy place?"

Thinking about it for a moment, the mage replied, "Probably a week till we reach San d'Oria, give or take." Smiling at the thought, she mused, "It'll be good to be home…"

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Looking at the freshly covered grave that he had just laid a dead man into, the black haired teen looked towards the blonde who was leaning on a spade stuck into the ground. Seeing Jax just looking at the freshly turned dirt silently, Dai glanced towards the silent giant who was smoking a cigar, or something like it, nearby. Feeling the need to say… something, Dai spoke up, "Sorry for your loss."

Turning his head to look at the younger human, Jax just shook his head in response. "Barely knew the guy. This was, what? His second mission with the guild?" He asked Fang, glancing in the grey haired galka with his eyes. A grunt and a nod was his answer, along with an exhale of smoke into the late evening air.

"Yeah, stucks that he died… was your age, I think, but," Jax continued before fading out with a shrug.

Scrunching his forehead at that response, Dai looked from both of the older men standing before the new grave.

Frowning at the look he was getting, Fang snapped the fingers of his right hand while taking the cigar out from between his lips with the other. Seeing that he had the blonde human warrior's attention, he blew a cloud of smoke towards Dai while jabbing a meaty finger at the same. An unhappy grunt accompanied the gestures, getting a nod from the human.

"Okay, okay," Jax relented, running his fingers through his hair with a deep breath. "Look, kid. It's not like we don't care but we all knew what could happen when we signed up for this job. Gosh just got fucking unlucky, taking a arrow in the face."

Fang just nodded at that, his inhaling breath causing the cherry to flare bright at the end of his smoke.

"It just seems so…," Dai tried to say but the exact word escaped him.

"Hollow?" The blonde supplied helpfully.

"Yeah," the younger man agreed, scratching his hatless head. "I mean, I thought there would be more than just… this."

"Look, 'this' isn't it, alright," Jax stated a bit irritably, pulling the shovel out of the damp earth with a splurtching sound. "This is Gosh being buried because we have to. If we were closer to a town…," his voice trailing off before he grimaced, "Anyways, we saved his stuff to give send back to his family once we make it to Sandy. That's the best we can do. Alright?"

Turning around, the warrior started walking back towards the carts, saying over his shoulder, "Now if you don't mind, I've got a bottle of Buggman's and some shit to sort through."

Dai just watch him walk off into the distance before turning back to the unmarked grave. Letting out a breath, the youth clapped his hands before him three times and bowed his head for a moment in silence before dropping his hands to his sides once more.

Hearing the movement, Dai was only slightly surprised to feel Fang drop a hand, almost as big as his head, down to pat his shoulder. Looking up, he saw an approving nod from the giant as Fang reached behind him to pull forth a full water-skin. Popping the cap, the galka poured some of the liquid onto the grave and then took a drink of it himself. Finally, he silently offered the open skin to the young human.

Accepting the skin, Dai poured some into his own mouth; which promptly caught fire, or so he thought. Swallowing out of reflex, the brown eyed teen coughed and hacked for a moment before forcing his composure, eyes watering. Handing the skin back to the grinning galka blindly, Daisuke swallowed again while rubbing his eyes clear.

Fang just patted him on the back twice before striding away from the site.

Coughing one last time, Dai moved over to pick up his hat off the ground; dusting it off before placing it on his head and following Fang back to the camp in the darkening light.

As he approached the camp by the lake, Dai saw Jax was being true to his words, the warrior leaning sitting on the back of a cart taking a slug from a small glass bottle. Fang had continued on to sit with the two Tarutaru cart drivers who were sitting by their own campfire. Seeing Hiroshi meditating or something, with Corellon seated nearby giving quiet instruction at a different small fire; Daisuke decided to head to the last one where Kitoria was cooking something while taking to Ranma.

Seeing the movement of Daisuke walking towards them, Ranma looked up from the steaming pot hung over the fire. "How you holding up?"

"I'm okay, I guess," he replied as he sat down on the downed log his friend was also sitting on. Deciding to make a concentrated effort to push the last hour out of his mind, he asked back, "So, what're you guys up to?"

"Nothing much," Ranma stated with a shrug, "Kit was just telling me about where she grew up and stuff."

Latching onto a hook, the brown eyed human smirked, "So, you two have hooked up then. So, she's another-"

"Damnit, Dai! She's not a fiancée," the long haired martial artist broke over his friend's voice, throwing a hot glare at the grinning teen.

The spiky haired mithra female just blinked at the two friends' interaction, replaying it in her mind. A moment later, she hesitantly asked, "Another fiancée?"

Palming his face with a grimace, Ranma decided to just 'yank the bandage off quickly', so to speak. "My dad's an idiot who set me up with multiple engagements."

"He has three girls who fight over him," Dai helpfully supplied.

Blinking again at that information, Kitoria turned her bright green eyes back to Ranma's clear blue, "You were human and your father still did this? Is this normal back home?"

"Yes, yes and no; it's not normal, my pop is an idiot" After Ranma's deadpan reply, his look turned questioning with suspicion as he asked, "Why are you asking?"

"Well," she started, stalling while she thought up the correct words, "It just seems more like what I grew up with when I was a kid. You know, with the multiple engagements thing."

"You're kidding," Dai spoke out, awe in his voice, looking from female mithra to male and back. Ranma was silently staring wide eyed at the woman.

"No, I'm not; it's always been that way," Kitoria stated with a shrug. Gesturing with a finger, she pointed towards Ranma, "If you were born in a tribe and, you know, a mithra, you'd probably have even more wives by now."

"What? How? Wait… Why?" Ranma babbled out, in shock and minor terror of thinking of not only all three fiancées but maybe more all being his wives and the chaos that would have ensued.

"Well, there's only one boy for every six or so girls born," the natural mithra woman replied with a shrug. "I know polygamy isn't normal for the other races, but the elders say that it's what worked for us for as long as we can remember."

"Whoa…", Daisuke let out in awe, thinking about things with images running through his mind. Blinking, he at the green eyed woman and asked, "So, are you taken?"

"Quit while you're ahead, kid," Jax interrupted as he sat down on a rock nearby, the nearly empty bottle in his hand. "She ain't taken and ain't lookin'."

Smirking in Jax's direction, the indicated woman nodded her head, "And it only took you one lightning bolt to get it through your thick skull that I wasn't interested."

"Hey, at least I wasn't the dumb drunk shmuck who tried to crawl into your bed that one night we were in Selbina." Wincing at the memory, along with taking another swig from his bottle, the blonde human added under his breath, "…wonder if he ever got feeling in his 'leg' back."

Kitoria just smirked as Ranma and Daisuke looked towards her. "I hit his 'leg' with a focused paralysis spell." Turning back to the blonde human, the mage answered, "As for feeling it again, it probably wore of before noon." Still smirking she then stated, "If I were him, though, I'd be more concerned with the flesh rot I hit it with just after the paralyze."

Even in the flickering light of the camp fire, Jax's face paled as he put a hand down to his groin. Nearby, the two teens grimaced at the implications as well, Dai exclaiming, "Damn! That's just mean!"

The female mithra just shrugged, unconcerned. "He's lucky that's all I did to him."

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"Hmm…," the tall elvaan man hummed to himself as he examined the younger mage he was tutoring. Pulling the thin pipe from his mouth, he blew out a small cloud of smoke into the chill morning air, looking over the copper haired girl sitting cross-legged before him in the grass. Closing his eyes while taking another hit from his pipe, Corellon felt the currents of mana surrounding himself and Hiroshi.

"What do you feel," the black haired mage asked the girl who was almost a decade younger than himself.

"I don't know...," Hiroshi hesitantly replied after a moment's thought. "Like thick air that's both hot and cold at the same time?" She tried to vocalize, trying to explain what she felt; like a blind man trying to describe seeing the world for the first time.

Opening his dark eyes once more, he nodded in acceptance of the vague answer. "What you're feeling is the latent mana surrounding us," he explained in his rich voice. Nodding in approval, he followed up by saying, "It is good that your mind is clear enough to continue, unlike last evening's session."

Hiroshi just winced, remembering how pissed off she was last night when the hot water didn't turn her back into a guy like it did Ranma.

Ignoring the girl to look towards the silent black haired mithra sitting similarly nearby, Corellon asked in interest, "Did you also sense the latent mana?"

Not opening his eyes, Ranma's lips turned down in a slight frown. "I can feel both of you and your ki but nothing like what Hiroshi's talkin' about.

"Interesting," the blue tunic wearing elvaan responded with a nod, knowing about ki from working with martial artists on occasion but not having bothered to ask one about if they could sense mana. Of course, he had to admit that he couldn't feel this 'ki' they talked about either.

Turning his attention back towards the human girl he was tutoring, the black haired man puffed out another jet of smoke from his pipe. "Moving along, now that you can identify the latent mana," Corellon started, causing Hiroshi to open her red eyes to focus on him, "I want you to hold my hand while I cast a basic Protect spell on your friend. You should be able to sense how the mana I've channeled is exhausted."

Opening his own eyes at that, Ranma asked with a tinge of apprehension, "You're gonna use magic on 'me'?"

Raising an eyebrow, the elvaan pulled the pipe out from his mouth and tapped the spent embers out into a bare spot on the ground. "I fail to see why you are so concerned. Protect is a basic white magic spell to prevent physical injuries," Corellon explained in mild confusion.

"Yeah…," Ranma drawled out, rubbing the back of his neck while breaking eye contact, "Magic and me don't get along too well."

"Whatever misgivings you might have due to your past dealings with magic, I request your assistance for your friend's benefit," the mage stated in response, pushing himself up to stand and stretch his back out.

Seeing Hiroshi giving him a pleading look, one that might not have worked if she didn't have her current cute female face, Ranma let out a sigh before also standing. "Fine, but don't blame me if things go wacky."

Assisting the female of the group to her feet, Corellon dryly responded, "I assure you, if I managed to miscast such a basic spell, I would doubt I would hear the end of it from my compatriots." Turning to the now standing Hiroshi, he instructed, "Now, try and feel how my mana changes as I cast the spell. The physical connection through our hands will assist in this but eventually you will be able to perform this from a small distance."

"Ah, okay," Hiroshi lamely replied as she closed her eyes to focus once more on the odd to describe feeling of mana.

Turning his attention once more back to the martial artist, Corellon directed, "Please back away three paces to increase the distinction between the channeled mana and spell effect."

"Fine," Ranma bluntly acquiesced, backing away the requested distance, body slightly tense in anticipation.

Ignoring the apprehension of the younger male, Corellon stated to the copper haired mage holding his hand, "Focus. I am starting now."

Ranma just watched as the mage raised his free hand to point towards him. He couldn't help but tense his muscles as he felt… something build up just before the mage intoned, "Protect."

Just as those words entered Ranma's white furred ears, five glowing blue points appeared before him hanging in midair. An instant later, four translucent panels flashed into existence with a crystalline clinking sound before both sound and vision faded from view.

"What the hell was that?" Ranma shot out, dropping into a fighting stance.

"That was the protection spell," Corellon calmly replied, quirking an eyebrow at the younger man's reaction. Releasing the hand he was holding, the elvaan turned towards the vastly shorter Hiroshi and asked, "Did you successfully sense both how I used my mana and the spell effect?"

"I… think so," Hiroshi hesitantly replied without any confidence. "I mean, I felt something from you and then something else at Ranma but," she started to state but faded out with a growl, "It's hard to put it into words, you know?"

"Indeed, I do," Corellon answered with a nod, "So don't bother trying to explain it. Just remember what you sensed and use that to start your own spellcasting."

"Start spellcasting," Hiroshi repeated, blinking in confusion. "How am I going to cast any spells? I don't know any!"

Frowning, the pointy, long eared man crossed his arms over his chest. "I was under the impression that you have already cast a fairly powerful fire spell when our paths first crossed."

"But I have no idea how I did it! I just panicked and," she cried out before her voice faded away as she remembered the event.

"You have no idea," Corellon repeated, skepticism in an even voice showing his opinion.

"Hiro's never had magic before," Ranma chipped in helpfully from the side, no longer on high alert. Shrugging, he threw out, "I'm just guessing, but maybe he picked it up with the change?"

"This was the change that changed you from male to female, correct?" The shoulder length black haired man asked for confirmation, looking towards the copper haired girl.

"Yeah," Hiroshi drawled out, eyeing the tall mage suspiciously, "Why?"

Uncrossing his arms to massage his chin with a hand, Corellon inquired again instead of answering, "And this event also transformed you from human to mithra, as well?"

"Yup," the indicated martial artist bluntly replied with a nod.

"I assume that this wasn't the full extent of the changes," he stated instead of asked. Seeing the slight nod, he requested, "List them, if you would." At the questioning look the pair of teens shared, he explained, "I wish to confirm a hypothesis. Now, if you would please…" He trailed out with an impatient wave of his hand.

"Fine," Ranma replied, crossing his own arms with a frown before flatly listing out, "Me: Mithra thing and done. Hiroshi: Changed into a girl and got magic, done. Daisuke: his fake gun became real and he knows how to use it, too."

"You say his weapon was a fake before?" the elvaan inquired, latching onto that fact, continuing to cup his chin in thought.

"Yeah," Hiroshi replied, confused as to what connection that made.

"I assume your own weapon was fake as well?" He continued to ask, looking towards the girl mage.

"My weapon," Hiroshi parroted, looking from Corellon to Ranma with a lost look.

Something clicked in Ranma's head, causing the blue eyed teen to facepalm. "The sword, Hiro. I forgot completely about checking it out, too."

"Sword?" the girl repeated again, looking back towards the camp where she had left the cape, pauldrons and sword earlier in the morning. "But it's just part of the costu…," her voice trailed off as her eyes widened. "The costime! I turned into the costume," she cried out energetically, the pieces falling into place into her own mind.

Deciding to let this play out, Corellon watched as the yellow shirted girl turned towards her grey and black wearing mithran friend to cry out, "Lina Inverse! That's why!"

Blinking in his own recognition, Ranma cupped his own chin in a hand in thought, "Considering everything else, I guess it makes sense." Nodding, he stated, "Yeah, sounds right."

"Care to explain?" Corellon asked, hearing the fragmented information but wishing for a clearer picture.

"That's how I have magic," Hiroshi excitedly replied, turning towards the elvaan mage, her hands gesturing quickly. "I 'became' Lina Inverse!"

Quirking a brow and looking towards the calmer martial artist, Corellon silently sent out a request for a clearer answer. Ranma obliged by explaining, "Lina's a powerful mage from a manga back home." Seeing the questioning look at 'manga', Ranma clarified, "It's a... fantasy story."

"If we factor that magic could work differently in your world, as I have not seen anything like what you've described before, then this 'would' explains why she is able to use magic but also indicates that she 'does', in fact, know at least one spell, if only subconsciously," the mage summarized, nodding to himself. "The fact remains that we lack the required time to teach you entirely new spells and I highly doubt you have the resources to obtain an 'instructional' spell scroll. As such, is where your experimentation comes in," Corellon stated with a gestured finger pointing towards the teen-aged girl.

"But, but… I still don't remember how I 'did' it!" She complained in a near whine.

Frowning in consternation, Corellon looked down at the girl while letting out a breath through his nose. After a few moments, of which Hiroshi did her best to give puppy-dog eyes, the mage let out another sigh before he said, "Very well… I will only perform this once, so you best be paying attention."

Seeing the girl nodding earnestly, he took a few steps towards the lake, Hiroshi following at his side. Once he reached some predetermined distance, he stopped and stated, "I will be casting 'Firaga' in a moment. As a rather high powered fire spell, enabling you to sense it with relative ease." Looking to his left at the younger fledgling mage, he asked, "Are you ready?"

At seeing the red eyed girl nod, Corellon held both hands before him, as if he were grasping an invisible sphere nearly half a meter in diameter. Both teens then felt the 'power' build up around the man, each in their own way, as he charged up the spell. A moment later, Corellon thrust his open palms forward, his voice carrying an oddly distorted tone as he said, "Firaga!"

Hiroshi snapped her eyes out to a specific point over the water, feeling the well of power shifting to that location. The next thing she saw was the spark of fire the exploded in a wave of flames; flashing the air with the heat. All three heard the explosion of flames a moment later as the sounds rolled over them at their safe distance.

Ranma and Hiroshi just watched the spell's conflagrations with differing levels of awe, Hiroshi with vast more as she thought about how she could, hopefully, perform such spectacular displays of power in the near future. Hearing a calm cough from the elder mage, both teens looked towards the tall man who held the ghost of a smug grin on his lips.

"I assume you were paying attention?" He asked, a satisfied sound to his voice, to which the copper haired girl nodded numbly. Still holding his ghost of a grin, he gestured towards her with a hand, "Very well. You have all the tools to complete your task and it is now up to you to succeed or fail. If you will excuse me, I must discuss the plans to our coming trek with my clients." Nodding one last time to the young mage, he stated, "May Altana look favorably on you."

With that, the tall elvaan turned and strode towards the midget sized taru caravan drivers who were tending to their Chocobo.

"What the hell do I do now?" The copper haired girl asked out in confusion and mild-irritation once she realized she still had to figure out how to cast the only spell she knew she 'knew'.

Ranma just shrugged as he replied, "You got to figure it out yourself. Had to do the same thing with figuring out ki and the Moko Takabisha and… a bunch of other crap. Hell, you've got a lot more help than I had with those, so…" Shrugging again, he turned back towards the camp proper, still trying to figure out the lingering feeling that protection spell had on him.

Turning at the that statement, Hiroshi watched Ranma stride back towards the camp proper, seeing his black tail swaying and twisting with each step. Finally sitting back down in a cross-legged stance, the yellow shirted girl put her chin in her hand while the elbow rested on her knee. "Well… fuck me."

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Ranma let out a contented sigh as he soaked up the warm rays from the sun on his shirtless chest, the white tip of his long black feline tail flipping lazily every so often in contentment. Along with the sunlight warming his skin, the martial artist could feel the well earned burn in his muscles from a vigorous workout he had finished not long ago. The only downside was the fact that the drying sweat was starting to smell a little ripe…

"Man, I can't get over how awesome this is!" Daisuke exclaimed nearby, flipping his pistol through a elaborate twirl of showmanship before holstering it once more.

Lethargically opening an eye, Ranma turned his head slightly to look at his friend's back. "You'll get used to it," the white eared Japanese mithran teen stated with a lazy shrug, feeling the grass on his back with the movement.

"Yeah, but check it out!" Calling that out with a grin, the short haired male drew the pistol and a bullet from his belt, one in each hand. Breaking the pistol open to get to the cylinder, Dai loaded the bullet into a chamber and jerked his left hand back to slam the gun closed. The next instant, he snap fired the revolver, a bang and cloud of smoke ejecting from the nineteen centimeter long barrel; the entirety of this taking just barely more than a second to complete.

Ranma blinked, turning his head from the quickly dissipating cloud of smoke to the targeted tree standing around twenty meters away. "Ah… good job?" The martial artist hedged, interested but not overly impressed with whatever his friend was trying to show him.

"Good job? Good job, is all you're sayin'?" Daisuke asked incredulously, holstering his gun once more to gesture from the laid out fighter to the tree he just shot. "I've put the last five shots damn near dead center bull's-eye, right on top of each other!"

"Give me a good bow and I could probably do the same from that range," Ranma replied as a matter of fact. Seeing his friend deflate, Dai's face falling into a defeated look, Ranma pushed himself up into a seated position. "Look, Dai," he started out, gesturing with a hand, "It's not that it's not cool and all, but it's…"

Hearing the martial artist trail off into thought, Dai crossed his arms and irritably asked, "It's what?"

Pulling up a few blades of grass as he thought for a moment, Ranma slowly replied, "Well, like I said, it's not that it's not cool or anything, but what else can you do?"

Blinking for a second, Daisuke responded with a confused, "What?"

Coming about it a different way, Ranma countered with his own question, "How many of those bullets you have left?"

Glancing down at his waist, Dai took a quick count. "Around fifteen, I guess. Why?"

"So, what are you going to do once you run out?" Ranma asked, raising a brow. "You heard them saying those Ork guys are running around attacking people more than usual." The fact that neither knew how much 'usual' was went unsaid. Seeing that he had his friend's full thoughtful attention, he asked again, "What happens if they come back and you run out? I can handle myself and I guess Hiro's got that magic stuff. What about you?"

Thinking about it and not liking the answer, Dai apprehensively stated, "I don't know…"

Pushing himself up to full standing, stretching out his back with a contented groan, Ranma said, "Look, right now you're a one trick pony with just that gun. If I were you, I'd look into getting something that can't run out of bullets… you know?" Cupping his chin while looking at his friend, he pondered for a bit before supplying, "A couple knives or maybe a sword, just in case?"

Accepting that Ranma knew what he was talking about with combat, Dai nodded but asked, "So… Where do I get one?"

"No clue," the martial artist answered before gesturing into the distance towards where Jax and Fang were practicing with their axes and great-sword respectively. "Go ask one of them. Maybe they have a spare or something." Seeing his friend looking thoughtfully towards the two larger men, Ranma picked up his shirt and vest from the ground and said, "Anyways, I'm gonna go wash up."

Looking back from the distant figures, Dai asked with a joking leer, "Want me to go ask your girlfriend to help wash your back?"

Growling with irritation, Ranma rolled his eyes, "No, I don't want you to ask Kitoria that…" He then shifted to a glare to state clearly, "And she's not my girlfriend. Lay off it, Dai."

"Yeah, yeah," the short haired teen replied unconcerned with a dismissing wave of his hand. After saying that, Daisuke blinked as he found crystal blue eyes glaring out a silent warning; promising pain, humiliation or both. Grimacing slightly before forcing a nonchalant grin, he held his hands in a relenting gesture. "Alright, alright! No worries, man! I'm not goin' anywhere near that. Alright?"

With one last moment of silent warning, Ranma turned away and stalked back to the camp, intent on gathering the rest of his clothes and the soapstone loaned to him by Jaxrinde earlier. Lifting an arm slightly, the martial artist grimaced slightly as his enhanced sense of smell worked against him. "Definitely need a bath…"

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From the instruction she had received earlier that morning, Hiroshi's mood had continually soured as she tried to work out how to complete her current task. The pondering and calm thought had eventually delved into muttering her thoughts under her breath while pacing around. It had been a few hours since it started but eventually, the changed teen came to a sudden stop right on the same spot she had started her morning's training.

Clenching her hands into white knuckled fists and throwing her head back, the copper haired mage let an inarticulate scream of frustration into the air that quickly left the girl breathing deeply.

"Are you okay?"

A short shriek of surprise escaped the young mage as she jerked her body around, Hiroshi caught completely flatfooted by the unexpected question. Putting a hand over her quickly beating heart, she directed a sharp look towards the redheaded mithran mage now before her. "Don't do that," she tightly demanded, taking another deep breath to calm down.

"Sorry," Kitoria replied with an apologetic voice and small smile she was trying to hide behind her fingers, "I didn't mean to startle you."

Running fingers through her long copper hair, Hiroshi shook her head as she said, "Don't worry about it. I was just… thinking."

Quirking her brow, the older natural female pointed out, "Looked like some heavy thinking…" Seeing the human crossing her arms under her chest and averting her gaze, Kitoria adopted a concerned visage as she asked, "You want to talk about it?"

"I'm just… frustrated," Hiroshi replied hesitantly, "at myself, I guess." Running another hand through her hair while giving her head a shake, she explained, "I mean, I've spent all morning trying to figure out this magic thing and I'm just… hitting a brick wall or something and this is even after all the help Corellon gave me!"

Curious at what stage the young mage was stuck at, Kitoria asked while her red furred tail swished in interest behind her, "Where did you get to, if you don't mind me asking?"

"The part where I've got to figure out how to cast my own spell," the red eyed teen replied with another shake of her head. "I know what mana and someone else using it feels like but I'm stuck there and it's really damn annoying to know I have a spell but not 'know' how to 'cast' it."

Seeing the frustration building in the girl while she was talking about it, Kitoria raised a finger as she asked, "Well, you know what's always helped me out when I was in your boots?"

Raising a brow, Hiroshi replied, "No… what?"

"Something completely different!" The mithra stated with a nod of utmost confidence. Seeing the confused blink from Hiroshi, Kitoria pointed towards her, "I'm serious. I've always found that if I get stuck on something, I just need to do something else for a bit to relax."

Letting out a sigh and thinking about it for a moment, Hiroshi agreed, "You're probably right…"

"Of course I am," Kitoria replied with a nod and a smile. Walking forward to put an arm around the younger female's shoulders, Kitoria turned them both towards the small camp while saying, "And that means it's time for a bath!"

"Yeah, you're," Hiroshi started to reply with an agreeing bob of her head before it clicked and she exclaimed, "Wait! What?!" Before the Earth native teen realized what was happening, Kitoria had already dragged her the short distance away to the camp. "What do you mean 'bath'?"

"Exactly what you think it means; water, soap and getting clean," Kitoria replied as she picked up a bag off one of the carts. "Don't tell me it means something different where you're from," she commented with a small smirk, glancing towards the flustered girl and then to the lake.

Sporting a small frown, Hiroshi rolled her red eyes in derision, "You know what I mean!" Seeing the older woman starting to move towards the lake, Hiroshi unconsciously matched pace to continue the conversation, "I can't do that! I'm a guy!"

Glancing over her shoulder, Kitoria countered with a catty smirk, "You sure don't look like any guy I've seen…" Seeing the younger mage wince at that, the smirk fell from Kit's face as she sighed and stopped walking to turn towards Hiroshi."Sorry… I just don't have any way to see you as, well… male."

"I guess…," Hiroshi glumly replied with a small sigh before growling slightly, "If I the hot water had just worked, I'd… I don't know."

Running her free left hand through her spiky bangs, Kitoria shook her head slightly as she looked thoughtful for a second. "I wish I could help with that, I really do," she stated sincerely, "I've heard of some pretty bad curses before, but those are usually deadly; nothing like what happened to you." Wrapping her left arm around the younger female's shoulder, she continued, "I did tell you that I'd help you out and right now that means getting you to relax."

Putting up a token resistance, trying to lightly extract herself from Kitoria's arm and failing, Hiroshi started to balk with a flush face, "But…"

Sighing in slight exasperation, Kitoria removed her arm to cross both of her arms under her breasts. "Look, girl, I'm trying to help you out here but I'm serious about you needing a bath. Your hair is a mess and you're starting to smell a little ripe." Seeing that Hiroshi was thrown off by the change in the flow of conversation, Kitoria pressed on, "Now you have two options; one, you come with me and enjoy yourself or, two, I start spraying you down right here, right now." To add to her threat, she raised her free hand to prepare casting and quirked her brow.

"Fine, fine! I'll come," Hiroshi quickly relented with a surrendering gesture. Seeing Kitoria smile smugly before continuing the walk towards the lake, Hiroshi shook her head in wonder before catching up. "I guess I can understand you wanting to help me out, but why are you so bent on this?"

The redheaded mithra just sighed as she edged her direction towards some trees and long reeds along the bank of the lake, thinking they'd block anyone trying to spy on them from afar. "I just…," she started to reply before letting out another breath, "You're the closest thing to another woman here and I just wanted to, you know, have some female bonding or something." Shaking her head in mild frustration, she further explained, "I've been surrounded by sweaty, smelly men for almost a week, for Altana's sake!"

Amazed slightly by the emotion put out by the red tailed woman, Hiroshi hesitantly replied, "Ah… okay?" Pointing towards herself with a finger, she stated, "Also a guy."

Kitoria just blew an exasperated breath through her bangs. "Yes, I know but, no offense, but you're close enough," the red shirted woman responded, finally arriving at a site she mentally deemed good enough for their privacy. "The thing is, unlike your friend, you can't seem to change back and… Well, like I said; no offense, but that makes you the best option available. Sorry… but I'm also trying to help you out, even though I'm also being a little selfish."

"I guess," Hiroshi hedged, looking away from the woman to the flashing light reflecting off the lake's rippling water.

"Besides," Kitoria stated with a wide grin as she set down her bag and waved a hand over her body, "what guy would complain about being 'forced' to bathe with a beauty like this?"

The copper longhaired girl just blinked as a small blush formed on her cheeks before she broke out in light nervous laughter, "Fine, alright!" Giving a mental shrug, Hiroshi turned away and started to undress.

It was a minute later that she was looking down at her naked reflection in the rippling water. She had known that the copper color was 'natural' from the times she needed to relieve herself after the embarrassing conversation with her gender cursed friend when they had arrived in this new world. This was the first time, though, that she'd seen the 'full package' that was her new body.

Considering the beauties that had surrounded Hiroshi back at Furinkan and the girls hounding Ranma, Hiroshi had to admit that her new body was shapely and cute enough to be pleasing to the eye. Her skin was smooth and had just a hint of tan to it which made her hair and eyes come out strong. Her hips were wide enough to be noticeable but her male mind locked her red eyes on the pert breasts on her chest. Hiroshi definitely wasn't a pettanko but they would never be called 'big' by any means, even though her breasts were definitely noticeable on her smaller female frame.

A shove from behind stopped any further examination, the water rushing towards her face causing the girl to let out a sharp shriek of shock. The large splash cut off the cry instantly, Hiroshi turning into sputtering and coughing as she sat in the lake water by the shore while wiping her eyes. "What was that for?!" She cried out in annoyance as she sent a glare at the naked giggling mithra still standing on dry land.

"We're here to relax," Kitoria finally replied once she stifled her giggling, though she still had a smile as she waded into the knee high water. Reaching out with a hand, she helped Hiroshi back to her feet, smirking as the younger girl finally flushed and jerked her head away in embarrassment. Leading her out into slightly deeper waters, still hidden by the tall reeds, Kitoria said with her cheeky smile, "You were starting to get gloomy while looking at yourself. I figured a 'helpful push' would break you out of it."

"Ha, ha, very funny," The copper haired mage dryly replied as she wiped the wet locks of hair out from her face while still keeping her eyes averted.

"It worked, didn't it?" The fiery haired woman replied with obvious humor in her voice as she came to a stop, the water level coming to up to cover up the bottom half her breasts. Releasing Hiroshi's hand, she also released a small floating bin into the water containing soaps and rags. Taking up a rag and soap, she started to clean herself, while asking, "I'll wash your back if you'll wash mine?"

Picking up a rag and some soap for herself, Hiroshi relented without putting up any further struggle, "Yeah, sure."

They bathed in semi-comfortable silence for a while before starting to complete their agreement. Hiroshi just tried to quickly but completely wash the elder female's back, blushing hotly the entire time she ran the soapy washrag over the mithra's skin. The flush continued on when it was her turn to get her back cleaned, Kitoria taking her time but keeping it completely platonic.

"This reminds me of the last time I went on a mission with my sister, " Kitoria mused as she finished up by rinsing the soap off the younger female's back.

"Really? You have a sister, too?" Hiroshi asked, interested in having something to keep her mind off the… embarrassingly pleasant feelings she was having at having her back scrubbed.

"Yup and we bathed like this in this very lake, too," the cat eared woman replied as she then ran a hand through the long copper locks before her. "She prefers longer hair, like yours, and I'd wash it for her when we were kids, growing up." Running her hand through the long hair again, feeling the girl before her relaxing, she asked, "Want me to wash your hair for you?"

"Hmm… sure," Hiroshi lethargically replied, surprised but enjoying how pleasant it felt to have someone else run their hand through her hair. Having always had short hair as a guy, she'd never experienced this before but Hotaru always seemed to enjoy when she badgered Hiroshi into brushing her hair. Now she knew why, it seemed.

"So, you have a sister as well," Kitoria stated as she applied some soap the copper locks. "Tell me about her?"

Letting out a contented hum as she felt the mithra's fingers on her scalp, the teenager answered lazily, "Her name's Hotaru and she's an annoying little squirt at times. I guess she can't help it, though, being eleven and all, but she can be pretty cool at times, too." Giggling at the memory, she explained, "Like one time my dad grounded me without dessert for a week, she snuck cookies into my room just because."

"That sounds sweet of her," Kitoria said while she continued her work, smiling at the spoken memory. "I've got a little sister too, though only just, since my sister is only a few minutes younger than me. Liana hated how I held it over her when we were just kids." Taking the bucket and filling it with water, she warned Hiro before dumping it over her to rinse out the hair.

Wiping her face clear, Hiroshi asked, "You have a twin? Identical twins?"

"Yes and no," Kitoria answered, running her fingers through the long hair to remove any tangles that might have formed. "Liana has brown hair like our mother while I took after our father."

A huge splash close by along with a gasp for air broke the conversation, both females jerking their heads over to see a black haired white eared mithra breaking the surface of the lake. As Ranma shook her head to get the water out of her face, wiping a hand over her eyes, she let out a loud happy breath, "Man, that was great!"

"Nice swim?" Hiroshi asked, amusedly as she moved away from Kitoria, just in case she took after Ranma's fiancées back in Nerima.

Blinking and jerking her gaze towards the voice, Ranma found herself seeing the two bathing females from the top of their breasts upward. Realizing just what she was seeing, she averted her gaze with a small blush on her cheeks while saying, "Ah… yeah. Was swimming around the far side. Didn't expect anyone to use the same spot, though."

Both Hiroshi and Kitoria laughed lightly at the reaction, of varying degrees with Hiroshi having more mirth at his friend's expense.

"I'll... just get dressed and get out of here," the lightly embarrassed martial artist stated as she quickly made her way back to shore, giving both of the other females a good view of her back.

"Hey, don't leave so soon," Hiroshi called out mockingly. "Kit just got done washing my hair and she'll probably do the same for you," she said, Kitoria nodding nearby with an amused smile. "After that, we can braid each other's hair and talk about boys or something! I'll be fun!"

Having reached into a small natural cubby in the root of a nearby tree to grab a small towel and started running if over her toned body, Ranma stalled in toweling off to give Hiroshi a dry look of skepticism.

Bursting into light laughter again, Hiroshi just waved it off, "Just messing with you, man. You should see the look on your face, though."

Rolling her crystal blue eyes, Ranma finished drying off and started pulling out her clothes, ignoring the laughter from Hiro and giggling from Kit. It was as she finished putting on her boxers and was about to thread her tail through the hole in her shorts that the winds shifted, causing the two mithra to stiffen slightly, her black and white tail freezing instantly.

Taking a couple directed sniffs into the air, Kitoria's green eyes narrowed in suspicion as she looked towards the thick reeds and bushes along the shoreline towards the camp, them being now upwind. Without another thought, she flashed a hand out towards them, a bolt of lightning flying through the air just over the foliage, causing a cry of surprise to burst out.

"What the hell, Dai," Hiroshi yelled out, recognizing the voice and the form of her childhood friend diving out of the bushes onto open shoreline.

"That could'a killed me," Dai cried out in shock and fear, realizing what had just happened. "What'd you do that for?!"

"Cause you're peeping on us, you jerk," Hiroshi yelled in response, covering up her breasts with an arm unconsciously; Kit following suit to the side. Ranma just finished putting on her backless shirt to complete the same effect and her wardrobe.

"Come on, man, can you blame me," the black haired teen tried to counter with a smooth grin. Standing and brushing himself off, he shrugged and thoughtlessly stated, "Don't see why 'you're' so pissed, though. You ain't got much to show, like they do."

Blinking for a moment before realizing what the brown eyed young man was talking about, Hiroshi looked down towards her meager breasts and then over to each of the two mithra's more… generous assets. When asked later, Hiroshi didn't really know why what Dai had said had set her off, but the next instant, she flung her free hand forward while yelling, "Fireball!"

Dai's eyes widened and he jumped into another rolling dive, the small ball of fire flying through where he just was to smash into the trunk of a tree behind him with a small explosion. Looking back at the charred bark and back towards the surprised but pissed copper haired mage, he yelled, "The fuck?! That could'a been me!"

Hearing the sound of someone stepping up beside him, Daisuke turned his head over and up to see a fully clothed Ranma cracking her knuckles with a pain promising grin on her face. "Oh, you're gonna wish you were dead once I'm done," the martial artist promised, "I warned ya…"

Sweat beading on his brow, Dai grimaced in the face of the oncoming pain train, letting out one last defiant, "I regret nothing!"

o0O0o

End of Chapter 3

o0O0o

A/N -

Ranma still cursed and is a Mithra in each form:

- I had Ranma with these afflictions because of the decision to keep the 'transformation spell' from the magic store not mix with the Jusenkyo magic. The way it comes down is the Jusenkyo magic, in Ranma's instant, just makes him female and the 'smoke' made him and the other two into their costumes. Hence why he's a Mithra in both forms.

Daisuke's Gun and Ammo

- Daisuke's gun is a fictional Double Action .45 Six-shooter that has a Top Break reloading system and a 7.5inch/19cm barrel.

- The ammo belt he obtained in the magic store olds 30 rounds of ammo full and started full.

Hiroshi

- If you can't guess, Hiroshi looks exactly like Lina Inverse. Not much more to say about that…


	4. Chapter 4

Crystal Memories  
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfiction  
Author: Konsaki

As he hunted for food in the small clearing that he claimed as his territory of the large forest, he poked his head up and sniffed at the winds. Sensing an invader to his realm, he searched and found his target; now baring his teeth and folding his ears back in anger. Hearing the warning cry, the invader let loose its own challenging call and the fight was on. Both males flashed back and forth inside the clearing, trading off hunter and prey roles as the flow of the chase gave way to small bouts of fierce exchanges of teeth and savage kicks.

Now, the pair just stared each other down, each catching their breath, as neither would back down from this prime real estate. Deciding on another show of dominance, he raised up to his full height with arms wide in the air, barring and gnashing his teeth in display of his prowess. Not be outdone, much to his frustration, the challenger responded in kind with no show of fear.

Two bolts of lightning flashed through the air, striking their targets dead on.

The challenger jerked and convulsed as the electric fury discharged through its body on the way towards ground. An instant later, its lifeless, smoking corpse fell to the grassy earth, one last twitch of its leg before final stillness.

The defender never had time to relish its victory, the flash of light connecting only a fraction of an instant after. The next instant, the hare exploded in a violent shower of bloody globules of flesh, bone and fur, small arcs of electricity flashing amongst the flying bits of rabbit.

Eye twitching as he beheld the bloody mess on the forest floor that was once a full hare; Corellon looked towards the blinking copper haired mage to his side. "I must regretfully inform you once more that this," the elvaan mage dryly intoned, waving a hand towards the bloody smear, "is commonly referred to 'overkill'."

Face completely flush in embarrassment, Hiroshi bashfully fidgeted her index fingers together while apologetically replying, "Ah… sorry?"

"Damn, you see how far that one piece went?" Jax asked with an awed whistle, tracking that specific gib's flight to its final resting place from memory.

Ignoring the blonde human's comment, Corellon rubbed at his forehead in mild frustration. "While I must note and laude your incredibly swift learning of this spell, I must, once more, stress the importance of controlling the power you put into it," he stated, giving a stern look into the younger red eyes of his temporary student.

"I know," the yellow shirted female mage replied, feeling the chastisement and disapproval from the elder mage, "but it's just so hard not to… put everything into it."

"Be that as it may," the blue tunic wearing man answered sternly, "if you cannot regulate yourself appropriately, further spellcraft will be beyond your reach." Shifting into a slightly more lecturely mode, he explained again, "Once more, if you continue to overcharge the spells you cast, you run the risk of having the spell either fail outright or, even worse, risk the spell backfiring to 'you' being the target."

"Damnit! I can't do anything with this shit," Jaxrinde exclaimed in disgust while examining the remains of Hiroshi's hare. "All that good meat, wasted…," he lamented as he reached down to pick up the one Corellon killed.

Letting out a sigh, the tall black haired man moved his hand down to rub at the bridge of his nose. "Let us hope that we encounter another such as this, you may try your hand again," he stated, not looking at the fidgeting younger mage.

"Sure hope so, just as long as she doesn't explode the next one like she has the last two," Jax agreed, fixing the girl with a light look of annoyance. "Tonight's stew is gonna be kinda lean otherwise," he stated, turning away to take the hare back to where the caravan had stopped overnight.

"Sorry…," Hiroshi lamely and lightly apologized, a light flush still reddening her cheeks.

"Do not apologize, as every mage has to push past this step of their training," the elvaan replied, tipping his head down to eye the shorter spellcaster. "Use this shame you feel to fuel your drive to improve past this hurdle but know that no respectable mage will train you further until you accomplish such," he warned seriously. "Also know that your time runs short before we arrive at the gates to San d'Oria and your ease of practice diminishes drastically."

Hiroshi nodded at that, knowing that the caravan had made good time through the La Theine Plateau and was closing in on their final destination. It had only taken just over two days' time to traverse the plateau instead of the estimated three once they had left the lake, the weather cooperating nicely the entire time they pushed towards Ronfaure Forest.

As it was right now, the caravan was taking the morning to rest up at a watering hole called the Knightwell, which was refreshed by an underground spring. Even though she had completed learning the lightning spell she had used on the hare just yesterday, exploding a different hare just as they entered the forest, Cor had effectively tempered her enthusiasm.

"Come along, now," the taller magic wielder directed, striding away from the scene of the incident, "Let us return to the others."

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Pulling back from the edge of the rocky outcropping, Kitoria's grim face said more than her words, "There's three of them headed this way." The morning sun made the air hazy, illuminating the misty fog which liked to crop up in the forest overnight this time of year, but the green eyed mithra was used to looking through it that it barely impeded her sight.

While Fang just grinned from beneath his half-face helm, Ranma frowned slightly. "So, what's the plan?"

"Since it looks like an advance scouting party, we're gonna have to take them out," the mithra mage replied, the large galka in dark armor silently nodding in agreement. Glancing towards said hulking wall of muscle, Kit talked her plan out, "From what I saw, there's a warrior, brawler and shaman. So, Fang takes out the warrior, you get the brawler and I'll lock down the shaman."

Fang made an agreeing grunt with a satisfied grin, pulling his greatsword loose from his back scabbard. Looking through the visor's eye-slit, Ranma could see the galka's grey eyes itching for a good fight. Even he had to admit there was some good itching in his own system, the adrenaline pumping through his veins already.

Peeking around the corner once more, Kit whispered back, "Almost there… Wait for it…"

Shifting their stances, the blood-knight and martial artist prepared to spring their ambush on the unsuspecting enemy ork scout party. At the edge of the stone face, Kit silently raised a hand, increasing the duo's tension level slightly as the seconds passed. Eventually, she flung it forward, yelling "Silence!"

Fang burst forward with a deceptive speed one wouldn't expect from someone his size, shooting around the corner with his sword gripped with both hands. Ranma shot off right after, following the clanking giant with a silent grace before overtaking the galka from the outside. Now, with an unobstructed view, the black haired teen could see the three targets as they broke from their shock and started a counter charge.

The largest of the trio of orks wore ramshackle armor, which looked to be slapped together from a scrap heap, banging his chipped and rusting sword against a weathered reinforced wooden shield. The next was Ranma's target, he assumed, the lightly armored ork wielding nothing but large claw like devices on his arms. The final target was trying to bellow a warcry like the others were but nothing seemed to be coming from its throat, rendered impotent by Kitoria's first spell volley.

"Blind! Paralyze," said female cried out as she ran from behind the two males, drawing her sword once she finished. Her target seemed to stumble in its charge at that, tripping on its own feet as its limbs started fighting its mental directives.

Fang bellowed his own wordless battle challenge as darkness seemed to envelope his being, bits of shadow trailing off of him like black steam from a hotspring in winter. Swinging his greatsword in a wide arc, he broke through his opponent's guard, sending the rusted sword to fly wide; the ork barely managing to hold onto it. The ork pushing forward with its shield to try and counter with a shield bash.

Ranma practically flew over the ground as he sprinted directly towards his own opponent, grinning widely at the expected challenge awaiting him. Just as he reached engagement range, he shot into the air, flipping over the not so clumsy attack from the ork to lash out with a strong kick to the back of the ork's bald head before landing in a handstand. Pushing off into the air again, using his arms, Ranma flashed out with his other leg, striking a solid blow into his target's shoulder, knocking the ork even further off balance.

"Come on, let's see what you got," he yelled in challenge, seeing the thing's red eyes seem to glow as it bellowed out an inarticulate yell of rage. Ranma looked interested for a moment as it seemed to psyche itself up, pounding on its chest with its arms, the skin gaining a deeper green hue before it launched into a frenzied attack.

Trying to gauge how skilled the thing was, the mithran martial artist ducked under the brawler's clawed hand before being forced to roll under another lower back-swipe. Another handspring took him clear of the powerful stomp the green skinned brawler induced into the ground, dust shaking up from the impact of its booted feet.

"That all you got?" Ranma taunted as swiftly re-centered and shot inside the ork's guard. Knocking away the ork's right arm, the teen pounded away with his fists into the greenskin's barrel chest, feeling at least one rib buckling under his assault. He overstayed his welcome a second too long, the ork flailing around in a swift sweep, forcing Ranma away but not before taking a solid knick to his left arm.

Glancing over to see the line of red and blood seeping down his bare arm, Ranma grimaced, "Careless…" Looking back over to the much larger opponent, he grinned as he said, "Got some fight in you, though." Said opponent was warily favoring its right side, its breath noticeably more ragged and labored than before. "Time to finish this," Ranma declared lowly to himself.

Kicking off into a short sprint, Ranma saw the brawler ready itself for a frontal assault. The long haired youth just grinned as he slid between the taller fighter's legs, coming out behind the off balanced ork. Flashing out with another kick, the martial artist connected solidly with the ork's left knee, a loud resounding crack breaking into the air as the knee snapped, causing the brawler to crumble to the ground.

Having the full advantage now, the blue eyed mithra skipped and hopped over a vain flail of a clawed arm, stopping by the beasts head. The next instant, Ranma delivered a swift boot into the brawler's scowling face, breaking a few of its jagged teeth and smashing its nose in even further. The ork's arms dropped to the dirt, the brawler knocked out cold from the final attack.

Hearing the continued sounds of combat, Ranma glanced over and saw Fang also pulling the last move his own fight. The galka cleaved the head of his opponent with a rushing broad swing of his blood coated greatsword, crying out with a wordless yell as his eyes glowed a ghostly white from inside his helmet. Green blood rained from the neck stump at the greenskin's body a moment before the ork finally realized it had died, toppling over on its side like a puppet with its strings cut.

Turning his head from the grizzly scene, the Japanese teen found the third fight also wrapping up but with a different type of end. The mithra mage's thin rapier was also coated in a sheen of green blood but she now stood well out of melee range with her opponent. Holding her sword in a raised thrusting position, she struck forward while still staying well out of range, yelling, "Earth Spike!"

What happened next was another cringe worthy event, as a shard of rock the size of Fang's sword shot from the ground near her to spear into the ork shaman's chest where its heart would be. It looked down and ineffectually grabbed at the protruding earthen shard, spewing green viscous fluids from its mouth before gravity took over, the life leaving its red eyes.

Wincing at the combined gruesome ends his companions had enacted on their opponents, Ranma commented, "Kinda brutal…"

"It's kill or be killed," Kitoria bluntly stated, her voice getting across that she didn't necessarily like that fact but still accepted it. Even as she said that, she walked over to her kill, ripped off a piece of its tattered shirt and used it to wipe off her blade.

Hearing the sound of metal parting flesh, both mithra looked over to see Fang having speared Ranma's downed opponent through the back with his giant sword. Looking directly into the martial artist's blue eyes, Fang jerked upward with one hand, the splurching sound of his sword withdrawing echoing out into the silent air.

Understanding the unspoken words, Ranma scowled, "Doesn't mean I have to like it."

"I hope you never do," the fiery hared mage answered from the side, rummaging through the shaman's things. "No matter what Fang tells you; if you ever start to like it, you've lost yourself."

Ranma just nodded as he watched the giant rip off the shirt from the now dead brawler to clean off his own blade. Shaking his head, he decided to move over to the decapitated warrior and detached the obvious pouch from its belt. Giving it a shake, it jingled with the sound of metal coins of a decent amount. Pocketing the pouch, he followed by looting the metal necklaces, careful not to get too much of the green blood on his hands.

"So… now what?" Ranma asked, ignoring how Fang had exchanged his giant blade for a smaller knife to cut off each ork's right ear.

Frowning while looking down at the mutilated corpses, Kitoria crossed her arms and tapped her lips with a finger. "Scouts wouldn't normally be this close to the city. Something's going on and I don't like the implications." Hearing a snort from the side, glancing over to see Fang clenching a fist and pumping his arm, Kitoria's frown deepened with a nod. "You're probably right… They're planning an attack or… something." Giving her head one last shake, her moderately long, spiky hair shaking with the movement, she admitted, "We need to tell Cor and let him decide what to do. He's 'is' the leader for this one."

The mithra in the red fedora ignored the derisive snort from the giant galka, though Ranma raised a curious brow at that. He shrugged it off as unimportant with nothing more came from it.

As the three started back towards where the caravan had held up while they scouted forward, Ranma asked, "So, what's with the ears?"

"Oh, that," Kitoria started, as if forgetting about it all together, "Well, since the Crystal War, San d'Oria has had an open bounty on hostile Orks, which they all are." Raising a finger in the air, mimicking a lecturer, she added, "The exact amount of the bounty changes frequently, depending on the current threat level." Frowning, she finished by saying, "Considering what we've just found, that might be going up soon…"

As they approached the stalled caravan, the returning trio could see Corellon's very displeased expression at seeing the green blood soaked galka. Walking forward away from the drivers, he lowly asked, "How many?"

"Three scouts, none escaped," the emerald eyed mage answered succinctly before pointing back the way they came, "Headed west around a kilo that way."

The tall elvaan mage let out a disquieted hum, his frown giving unvocal words to his current mood. Glancing towards the tall blood covered Fang, receiving a small nod in turn, Corellon stated, "I must speak with our clients." With that, he turned towards the carts, already thinking of what he would be saying to the lead driver.

Interested in the situation, Jax made his way forward with the other two Japanese teenagers in tow. "What's the situation?" He asked, quirking his brow at how Cor was talking relatively animatedly with the vastly smaller tarutaru driver.

"Just took out three ork scouts," Kitoria repeated before adding, "Considering how close we are to Sandy, we might be pushing hard until we make it there, just to be safe."

The blonde human winced at that thought, "Damn, that's going to suck… Even if we push ourselves, we're not going to make it by nightfall…"

"Aw, man…" Daisuke whined out, reaching back to rub the back of a thigh, "I'm getting tired of all this hiking. Was looking forward for an easy pace…"

"Shut it, Dai," Hiroshi snapped out, crossing her arms under her chest, "I'm all for hustling if it means I can sleep in a bed tonight!"

Smirking lightly, Jax started to joke out, "Hey, you can always share…"

"Finish that and I'll shove a fireball up your ass," Hiroshi quickly interrupted with a sharp glare and setting her hands ready to cast.

"She has your number," Kitoria chipped in, with a knowing smirk on her own lips as she saw Jax's stricken expression.

"Enough," Corellon's rich voice broke in, causing everyone to look towards his approaching form. "I have discussed it with our clients and we will be increasing our pace, continuing until we reach the gates."

"Called it," the fiery haired mithra said under her breath as she continued smirking towards the blonde human.

"We're pressing on immediately," Corellon continued on, either not hearing or ignoring the whispered comment and groan from Daisuke. "Fang, you have point with Ranma. Jaxrinde, Daisuke; you have rear guard. Hiroshi, Kitoria and I will have the middle," he directed, looking at each named person. "We're moving quickly but keep careful watch, we're not safe until we reach the walls."

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The evening sun had set long ago in the western sky, allowing the shadowy night to hold sway over the world. Both mithra of the security detail were a vigilant vanguard in the dark, Kitoria having replaced the much larger galka with the sun. This allowed the two mithra, who's eyes didn't require torches to see like the rest of the crew, to wander around without giving their positions away; increasing the chance of finding danger before it found them.

As such, they were the first of the travelers to witness the great walls of San d'Oria as they turned the last corner of the road.

"Ung… It's about time," Kitoria groaned out, sliding down the trunk of a nearby tree to sit down.

"So, we're just waiting for them to catch up?" Ranma asked, leaning against a different tree nearby, looking down the path towards the advancing torch light in the distance.

Taking her red fedora off her head to run a hand through her hair, the elder mithra nodded. "Yeah, pretty much. The guards at the gate won't let us through by ourselves since they secure the gates at night for security." Gesturing towards the closing caravan, she added, "They'll open it for all of us, though, cause of a treaty with the Merchant's Council."

Looking back towards the partially illuminated walls which filled as much as he could see to the north, dots of light stringing out into the darkness. Estimating the height of the walls, the martial artist guessed them to be around fifteen to twenty meters tall; which if he remembered correctly, dwarfed even the Great Wall which the Chinese built. Thinking about that, he asked his partner, "Hey, this wall go all the way around?"

"Huh?" the fiery haired young woman asked in confusion, not paying attention and nessesitating the black haired male to repeat the question. "Oh… No, it doesn't," she answered, gesturing towards the east. "There's a band of high mountain ridges which surround San d'Oria, both this and the east gate plug up the only holes, other than the bay on the north which leads out into the sea."

"Ah…," the martial artist replied in understanding, mentally figuring that the answer explained how the wall was so tall; they didn't have to make it very long comparatively.

After a few more minutes of wait, which neither one complained about, the two carts and accompanying personnel rolled close enough that the two mithra rejoined them.

"Finally," Ranma heard Daisuke exclaim both impatient and happy at the same time, "No more! We're done!"

"Sleeeeep," Hiroshi drawled out tiredly, her body flagging with the twilight.

Grinning at his friend's reactions to seeing the city walls, Ranma walked completely into their vision, "Come on, guys. Only a little more to go."

"Screw you, man," the cowboy hat wearing teen replied with a weary glare, "You were raised on this shit, not us."

Ranma just shrugged nonchalantly, unconcerned with his friend's snipe as it was true, sort of. The fact was, Genma had run him even worse during their travels, so this was still a pretty nice and relaxing hike, even with the sparse battles with bloodthirsty berserkers out for his blood.

Corellon, for his part, ignored the exchange along with Jax's own prayers thanking the Goddess; choosing instead to move to the far front of the company to greet the armored and armed elvaan guards alertly watching their approach.

"Halt! Identify yourselves," one of the guards called out, resting a hand on the hilt of his still sheathed sword, readying to draw it if the answer wasn't to his liking.

"I am Corellon Del'Norta and leader of this 'Reygar's Irregulars' security escort," the elvaan mage responded as he stopped around twenty meters out, just beside the first lit brazier which lined the path to the closed portcullis.

"Advance forward for inspection," the same guard instructed, per regulations as he moved out a little way from the secured gate. Once both elvaan reached each other, the guard accepted the contract scroll Corellon presented. After a quick scan of the document, verifying its authenticity, the armored man asked suspiciously, "What brings you to the gates at this late hour?"

"My men," Corellon started to explain, gesturing towards the gathered people standing before the carts behind him, "encountered an ork scouting party soon after entering Ronfaure from the plateau. We also were assaulted by a ork raiding party in Jugnar, where I lost one of my men."

Looking from the caravan back to Corellon, the guardsman frowned. "That is… unsettling news. Are you sure of this?"

"The gathered bounty tags my second is holding onto seem to agree with me," Corellon dryly stated.

Taking one last look at the scroll in his hands, the guardsman rolled it back up and handed it back to the brown eyed elvaan mage before him. "I will notify my Lieutenant of this. Have your wagons approach for contraband inspection."

A relatively short inspection later, taking around twenty minutes to complete, the large portcullis clanked and rattled open. A tired and trail worn troop finally made its way into city, hard packed trail dirt giving way to paved cobblestone streets. A short exchange between Corellon and the lead driver completed the contract with a scrawled signature, signifying the end of their escort duty.

After bidding their previous client farewell, Corellon turned to the gathered and eagerly waiting group of warriors and magic users. "Our contract is now completed. Due to the late hour, we shall meet up at the guild hall at noon to debrief with the Guild Master." Seeing the relieved expressions on most of the faces, he inquired about the only derisive snort of the group, "You have something to say?"

"Yeah," Fang drawled out in a deep rough voice, giving an outright hostile look towards the blue clad mage, "Fuck you and fuck the chocobo you rode in on."

Instead of returning the hostile emotions, Corellon just smirked in amusement as he watched the giant armored death machine stomp away, clanking into the darkness.

"Wow, I'm kinda surprised the big guy held up that long," Jaxrinde commented in mild astonishment, a large backpack sitting at his feet.

"Holy shit, he talks?" Daisuke excitedly asked, as the situation percolated through his brain. "I thought he was mute or something!"

"No, Fang can talk," Kitoria stated, rolling her eyes at the elvaan still in their midst.

Adopting a smug grin, Corellon stated, "Some would say too much." Shrugging it off, he added, "either way, it's his fault for agreeing to a bet without specifying the loss condition."

"No one expected you to win with that hand," Jaxrinde stated in defense of the galka who had just left before shaking his head in annoyance, "You know what, screw it, it doesn't matter. I'm going home and collapsing into my warm, soft bed." Picking his backpack up and turning about, the human started walking away with a wave over his shoulder and a yawn. "See you guys tomorrow."

"See ya, Jax," Kitoria called out with a small wave, even though he couldn't see it. Turning towards the Japanese trio, she offered up, "Speaking of beds, I have some spare rooms at my place if you want." The red tailed mithra shrugged as she added her reasoning, "Getting an inn at this time of night will be kinda hard and all…"

Seeing Dai just shrug and Hiroshi busy yawning behind a hand, Ranma nodded, "Sounds good. Thanks."

"Well, now that that's settled," Corellon broke in, nodding towards Kitoria and the teen trio, "I bid you good night and restful sleep." Speaking directly towards the red fedora wearing mithra, he requested, "Please bring them with you to the guild hall tomorrow." Seeing her agreeing nod, the tall navy-blue clad man turned about and made his own way into the dark night streets of San d'Oria.

"Well, follow me," Kitoria directed towards the three younger companions. "Sorry, but it's a bit of a walk, but at least we've made it this far."

"No problem," Ranma replied, falling into step with the older mithra as she started leading the trio through the dark streets.

Admittedly, it take another half hour of walking the streets to finally get to the building the mithra mage indicated was her home. It was a big square building with three floors and a set of stairs leading up on one side with a landing at the second and third floor along with going up to the flat roof.

"Last stop, third floor," she informed the crew, starting up the steps to the indicated floor. Ranma followed along behind her, having long since offered to carry her backpack of gear. Dai and Hiro taking up the rear with their lethargic gate, though it was tempered by the knowledge that the trek was almost over.

Pulling out a key ring from her belt pouch, Kitoria started to unlock the door, lowly saying, "Please keep it down, I don't want to wake them up if we can help it."

"No worries, just lead me to a bed," Daisuke answered with a yawn, getting a nod of agreement from a flagging Hiroshi who was about to lean into his shoulder, almost asleep standing. Ranma just smirked and nodded his own agreement as the mithra mage opened the door with a light creak.

They barely made it into the home when a wary woman's voice growled out of the pitch black darkness, "You better tell me why you're breaking into my house before I gut you where you stand!"

"Well, that's a damn nice 'Welcome home, sister' if I've ever heard one," Kitoria replied amusedly as she reached over to turn on a small crystal powered lamp.

Light seemed to flood in the room, the relative difference the small light had on the near absolute darkness seemed extreme. As everyone blinked with the sudden influx of relative brightness, they found a surprised looking brown haired mithra woman in a white shirt and half hid similarly colored panties holding twin daggers at the entrance to a hallway. As her ready stance broke away with her standing straight up, she asked out, "Kit? You're back?"

"Yup, just got back in town about an hour ago," the fiery haired woman replied as she shucked her jacket and hung it on a coat peg on the wall nearby. "Found some orks in Ronfaure and we chose to rush to the walls."

"Ah," the woman replied in understanding, flicking her eyes from her sister to the trio watching the interaction, "Who're they?"

"They saved our asses in an ambush," Kitoria replied, gesturing towards them with a hand, "I offered them a night here, late hour and all." Blinking in realization as her sister moved to put away her weapons, she lightly smacked her forehead, "Ack, sorry, forgot. Guys, this is my sister, Liana. Liana, this is Ranma, Hiroshi and Daisuke."

"Nice to meet you," Liana replied with a yawn, though she was already turning to head back to her room down the hallway.

"Okay," Kitoria started, looking to the tired trio, "We've only got two spare beds, so one of you gets the couch."

"I'll take it," Ranma offered, having set down the backpack in a spot out of the way.

"Okay then," the mage nodded, motioning to the other two teens, "I'll bring out a blanket and pillow once I get them set up."

"Thanks for all the help," Hiroshi offered up with sincere appreciation. Daisuke quickly but quietly parroting the gratitude.

"No problem at all," the mithra replied, leading them down the hall, "but the sooner I get you guys set up, the sooner I can crash…"

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Ranma awoke with a groan, cracking his eyes open to see the blurry image of the ceiling above him. Reaching a hand out from underneath his blanket to rub his blue eyes clear from the sleeping crust buildup, he reopened them fully with another groan to notice the bare hint of pre-dawn sunlight trickling in through a nearby window. Still in a half slumber daze, it took him a few seconds to remember where he was; laying on the couch of Kitoria's house.

Feeling something poking into his right arm, he rolled his head that direction to find a small young girl, of two to three years in age wearing a small brown dress, standing there intently looking at him. Pushing himself up to a half seated position, using his other hand to scratch at his early morning bed head, the confused martial artist let out a mumbled, "Hello?"

Still looking at him with intent blue eyes, the young mithra girl retracted her hand to clasp them both over her lower waist. "Potty!"

Shaking his head clear at her whimpered statement, the white eared teen asked out a still confused, "What?"

"Need potty," the brown haired girl replied with more intensity, shifting her weight from leg to leg slightly.

Grimacing as the situation filtered into his mind, the mists finally fading from his conscious thoughts, Ranma asked, "Where's your Mom at?"

Instead of answering, the girl's blue eyes started to water as her dancing became more pronounced, crying out excitedly with her brown furred ears folded back flat on her head, "Potty!"

"Crap," the teen cursed under his breath, sliding sideways on the couch before standing up, the blanket falling back to leave him just in his boxers. "Come on," he said, picking the girl up in his arms, her slight weight negligible to his strength, "Let's get you to the 'potty'."

Feeling the girl lean into his naked chest, Ranma sighed as he walked the small distance to the small water closet Kitoria had pointed out last night. Opening the door and turning on the small lightning crystal powered lamp with his free hand after a second of searching, Ranma set her down while he looked into the room for the first time. There was a small bucket under a water tap near a squat toilet in the center of the room.

Looking back to the girl who was still looking at him intently, the martial artist groaned as he realized how much further he'd have to help the girl.

It was a few minutes later that the girl finally cried out happily, "All done!"

"Congrats," he wryly replied as he carefully dumped the bucket of cool water down the toilet to flush it, having had to do such many times while in small rural villages growing up. "Now, where's your mom?"

"Right behind you," an amused but still drowsy female voice replied from behind his back.

"Shit," the black haired mithra exclaimed, twisting around on the smooth tile to find an amusedly smiling Liana leaning against the doorframe still dressed in her white long-shirt which just half covered her white panties. Still warily watching the woman who's braded brown hair laid over her shoulder looked similarly to how Kasumi wore hers, Ranma pointedly asked, "How long were you there?"

"Long enough," she answered cryptically with a similar smile before squatting down with her arms out, causing her daughter to run into her hug. "Did you go potty, honey?" She asked, cooing at the toddler in her arms, tickling the girl under her chin.

"Daddy helped," the small girl cried out happily, giggling from the tickle even as she threw an arm towards the surprised teen trapped in the small room.

Blinking in her own surprise, looking from her daughter to the wary Ranma, Liana hugged the small girl in her arms a little snugger. "Oh, Mariana…," she sorrowfully replied, stroking her daughter's loose brown hair tenderly as her own eye's misted, "That's not your daddy…"

Feeling definitely nervous with the entire situation, Ranma rubbed the back of his neck, "Look… sorry if I, you know…"

"No, it's alright," Liana quickly interrupted, wiping her eyes with a hand, "It's not your fault… I just miss him, you know?" Giving a quick laugh at how she must look, misting up in front of a stranger while standing in the water closet, she picked up little Mariana who let out a yawn and leaned into her mother's chest. "Let's get you back to bed, baby," she said down to the dozing girl with a small motherly smile, gesturing to the male to follow along.

Still rubbing the back of his neck, but following along anyways out of curiosity, Ranma stopped outside the door to what he now labeled 'Liana and Daughter's' room. Peeking in, he pointedly looked away from the leant over woman tucking her daughter into the lone bed to examine the small amount of decoration and knickknacks within.

"Cute kid," Ranma said conversationally, as he pointedly looked at the dozing little girl bundled under the covers instead of the mother putting on a pair of tan trousers.

"Yeah, she is, isn't she?" the mother replied with obvious affection for her daughter, tightening the belt of her pants before slipping her slippers back on. Silently gesturing towards the hallway, she closed the door quietly behind her before leading the martial artist back towards the living area where he had slept previously.

Moving over to the couch, Ranma let out a yawn as he picked up and put on his grey shorts and vest, forgoing the black shirt which definitely needed washed. While he was doing that, the brown haired mithra was setting a pot on the small stove to heat, dropping in a filter container full of coffee grounds to help her fully wake up.

"Mariana never really got to know her father," she said to break the silence after a bit, setting out two empty mugs on the counter nearby. "She wasn't even a year old when Marth left for his last mission," she explained, her voice light in volume but heavy with emotion.

"Sorry for your loss," the martial artist stated, following social common courtesy demands.

"He's not dead," Kitoria interrupted with a yawn as she exited the hallway into the main area, her sister automatically adding a third mug to the counter. Scratching her bare stomach beneath the sports bra like top she was wearing, she sat down at a small square table as she added, "The guild would know if he was."

"That's good, I guess," Ranma replied, though he asked with confusion, "But he's been missing for, what, a year?"

"One year, three months and ten days," Liana answered as she poured out the steaming coffee into the three mugs before setting them out on the table and sitting herself in an empty chair next to her sister. Accepting the white eared mithra's nod of thanks as he sat down on the opposite side from her, she cradled the steaming mug between her hands as she continued wistfully, "I've hoped to hear something from Marth or see him strolling through the front door with that goofy grin of his again…"

Ranma just took a long sip of the dark liquid before him, trying not to wince at the bitter taste as an, to him, awkward silence fell over the trio of mithra. Kitoria and Liana just sipped their own coffee as they reminisced through their own memories of the lost man.

After he had drained it, Ranma set the mug down and pushed his chair back to stand up. "Thanks for the coffee," he said with a nod before stretching his back out. "Hey, ah… You guys got a place nearby I could use to practice?"

Blinking at the request before realizing what he wanted, the brown haired woman pointed towards the ceiling, "You can use the roof, if you want. That's where Kit and I practice when we have time."

"Cool, thanks," Ranma said with another nod, putting the mug back onto the counter by the small sink before heading towards the front door, a set of green eyes watching him leave.

Draining her own mug as the martial artist made his way out the front door and up the stairs to the roof, closing the door behind him, the fiery haired mage stood from the table herself. Stretching out, her red tail poking straight out behind her, Kitoria groaned before stating, "I'm going to get a shower before the rest start waking up."

"Sure," Liana replied, a mischievously knowing smile on her lips which she hid behind another sip of coffee, "Have fun."

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Mariana's laughter and squeals of happiness filled the air as the group slowly strolled through the stone encrusted streets of San d'Oria. Having a time of his own, Daisuke used his hands to distort his face again while making funny noises towards the toddler being held by her mother, causing another bout of giggling laughter to spout up from the girl.

Eventually, the teen stopped his antics with a loud breath. "Whew, that gets tiring after a while," he stated, running a hand over his face to get the tingling feeling out of it.

"Hiro and me were taking bets on if your face would stick like that," Ranma quipped out with her own grin, walking beside the slightly taller human mage-in-training.

"Problem is, how would we tell from his normal face," Hiroshi asked, playing along by tapping a finger to her chin before bursting out in a her own grin.

Frowning at the double teaming, Dai stated plainly, "Hey, no fair ganging up on me!"

Kitoria and Liana just smiled at each other, enjoying the company and the cool sunny morning. Liana was comfortably wearing a pale yellow sun dress with some red and blue floral prints along the bottom hemline. Kitoria, on the other hand, was wearing her red leather fedora, tan leather jacket and rapier as her standard equipment loadout. Changed, was the dark brown tight leather pants along with the green tunic which laced up from bottom to top in the front, displaying that she was indeed a well endowed female mithra.

"Deal with it," the black haired martial artist replied with a smirk, crossing her arms over her chest in mild satisfaction. At the moment, she was borrowing a simple set of black tunic and pants from the mithra pair because, unlike Daisuke, she couldn't wear Marth's old clothes due to a lack of tail hole in his clothes. It didn't really bother her, though, the clothes being relatively gender neutral other than the female cut.

Wearing his own set of borrowed light brown shirt and pants, Daisuke decided to take the honorable way out and changed the subject, "You know, now that the suns out, this place looks like it belongs in Chrono Quest Nine or something…"

Looking around with a different eye now that it was brought up, Hiroshi nodded in agreement, "Yeah, maybe Lindblum?" Hiro, for her part was borrowing a pink shirt and red pants from the mithran mage, the tail hole in the back covered by the long black cape she was wearing.

"Is Lindblum your home country?" Liana asked, shifting her daughter slightly in her arms.

"Nah, it's just a fantasy country from a picture story," Daisuke replied with a shrug, using the explanation he and Hiro worked out to easily explain stuff like this. Deciding that because his earlier tactic bore fruit, Dai tried it again, "So, where are we headed again?"

Smirking lightly as she recognized his topic shifting, Liana decided to play along, "The Consulate District."

"Yeah, our guild hall for Sandy is there," Kitoria pitched in with a nod. "Apparently way back when, the Guildmaster was able to buy the building for a good price after a bad fire swept through the area." Taking a quick look around her to catch her bearings, the fiery headed woman added, "Should be only a couple more minutes before we get into the Grounds."

True to her words, the road they were on through the residential section opened up into a large courtyard with an awe inspiring view of a royal castle, grand cathedral and the huge embassies of the three major countries of the combined continents. As they wandered into the large grassy park like area amid the great political and religious structures, they saw other assorted people standing under the interspaced trees or around the large fountain in the center, which would spray spouts of water into the air in random formations.

"Whoa," Daisuke let out in awe, pushing back the brim of his hat as he looked about with wide brown eyes.

"Yeah," Hiroshi nodded in amazed agreement, looking around herself with a slightly dazed look.

"You should see the embassy section of Jeuno," Kitoria stated with a smirk as she led the group past the fountain, a rather large combination of spouts shooting up in seeming protest. "It's smaller in area than this, but it's built up on the top of a tower that makes the cathedral look tiny!"

"Just don't tell that to the royal family," Liana added sagely, shifting the squirming Mariana in her hands once more so she could continue to look at the fountain, "they get a bit jealous over that fact."

Ranma just snorted as she pictured Kuno being pissed that someone else had a bigger sword than him, easily seeing how the nobles and royals would act that way.

It was only a little longer that the mithra mage led the group into a side street off the main plaza. The buildings quickly shifted from obvious opulence and pageantry to a more subdued show of wealthy businesses ready to serve nobles with too much coin weighing down their pockets.

"And here we are," Kitoria finally stated, grandly waving her hand to show off a rather plain looking building compared to the surrounding stores, only a red and blue lacquered 'Reygar's Irregulars' hanging outside the main entrance displayed the business within.

Smiling at the brown haired teen who held the door open for her, Liana led the group inside. Once through the threshold, she smiled again as she greeted the man behind the desk, "Hello, Rodrick. How is your day going?"

"Oh, hey! Liana, good morning," a surprised and quickly brightening elderly grey haired elvaan replied as he waved to the woman. "I'm doing better now that you've brought me something to look at other than the old battleaxe in the back and these lot," Rodrick answered with a wide grin, throwing a thumbed gesture to the closed doors nearby before shifting to Jaxrinde and Corellon who were standing at the counter.

Jaxrinde just theatrically looked like someone shot him through the heart, "And I thought we were having a good old time trading war stories."

"Boy, the day you're better company than any of these ladies is the day they put me into the ground," the old elvaan replied with a snort.

"Just remember, look but don't touch," Kitoria smugly added to the conversation as she walked up to her team, "Hope we weren't keeping you too long."

"We are still awaiting Broken Fang to arrive," Corellon answered with a cordial nod to the mage and her companions. "Good day to the rest of you, as well."

"Come on, honey, say hello to Uncle Rodrick," Liana coaxed her daughter as she approached the counter. Mariana just shyly hid her face in the crook of her mother's neck.

The grey haired elvaan just grinned, showing a couple missing teeth while his scars stretched on his face. "No worries, I'm surprised she ain't bawling her eyes out at the sight of ol' Rodrick. So, I know this lot is here to see 'her', but how can I help you?"

"I'm looking for something inside the city," the brown haired mithra mother replied.

Nodding in understanding, Rodrick waved to the wall with multiple pieces of paper pinned up in different sections. "Just put up some new stuff this morning," he notified the woman, "think there's one or two. Might be something up your alley."

While Ranma watched the woman set her daughter down but kept hold of one hand as she examined the posted contracts, the door to the guild hall opened once more. Glancing over, she saw the giant galka Fang squeeze through the entrance.

"Looking good, big man," Jaxrinde spoke out with a whistle, as he saw what the galka was wearing. Still grinning, he asked out, "Trying to impress the old lady?"

Fang just smirked as he brushed some imaginary dust from the shoulder of his outfit. "Always equip for the job at hand," he replied in the deep rumble that was his voice.

While Ranma didn't know what exactly the 'job' was that Fang was referring too, the pink long sleved shirt topped by a black leather vest with bright brass buttons holding it closed was definitely not what she expected to see the galka wearing. Especially not after seeing him liberally splashed with viscous green blood in his dark metal armor, a wide toothy smile adorning his helmet covered face.

"If the job was to make me blind, you're almost there," a wry woman's voice rolled out from the now open door leading into the back.

"You're already half blind," Rodrick called out from across the room, making a verbal jab at her patch covered left eye.

"Shut it, you old goat, or it's the couch for you," the aged elvaan woman sniped back in reply before turning her remaining eye towards the gathered group. "As for you lot, get your asses in here and let's get this over with," she ordered before disappearing back through the open door.

The blond human of the group just let out a sigh as he pushed off the counter and lamented, "She's cheerful as usual."

"I wonder what has her in a bad mood," Kitoria wondered out loud as she moved with the rest to and through the door.

"It's just her time of the month. Drives me batty around this time," Rodrick called out loudly.

As she stepped through the door, Ranma got an eyeful of the elvaan woman as she sat behind a large desk full of paperwork just as she yelled out, "I'm not deaf, Rod, and you're ass is mine once I'm done here!"

"So you've said for twenty five years and I'm still here," the scarred elvaan male's voice trailed the last of the group before Corellon closed the door behind him.

Growling in her seat, the guildmaster cursed out, "That man…"

"To be fair, you did marry him," Corellon stated with a hint of a grin on his lips as he stood nearby.

"Quiet you," the elvaan woman stated in a noticeably more quiet reprimand. "Now, down to business," she said to start the debriefing session, readying a sheet of paper and quill pen, "give me the rundown."

For the next block of time, Corellon gave the highlights of their mission, the other three members filling in gaps when questioned by the woman. Eventually, the black haired elvaan mage finished by saying, "Once we received confirmation from the client, I declared the mission complete and the team split apart for the night to sleep."

Finishing with whatever she was writing on the paper, the woman set the pen back in its stand to direct her gaze at the Japanese trio. "So, I guess I should thank you for your assistance then."

"Pretty much," Ranma replied with a slight nod, before quirking her brow, "but first off, who are you?"

The aging elvaan woman quirked her own brow a moment before letting out an amused snort, "Guess I owe you at least that." Standing up from her chair to her full height, she stated, " Claudine Montplaisir, Guildmaster for the San d'Orian branch of 'Reygar's Irregulars'."

"Ranma Saotome, heir to the 'Saotome School of Indiscriminant Grappling'," the shorter black haired mithra replied with a slight bow.

The long haired girl spoke up next, "I'm Hiroshi Takano, mage-in-training, I guess."

" Daisuke Masaki," the final teen of the trio added, "and… I've got a gun?" Seeing the two other teens look at him, he shrugged his shoulders and replied with a defensive, "What?"

The grey haired woman politely ignored the interchange to muse out, "So, from what Corellon says, you've been 'transformed' to varying degrees and transported from your home world to ours." She also ignored the short nods of the teens as she began pacing with a slight limp behind her desk. "Ignoring the improbability and unbelievability of it all, based off an earlier conversation, he has also recommended that I offer you recruitment into the guild based off your assistance and evaluation of your abilities."

"That's cool and all, but we're really just trying to get back home," Daisuke interjected.

Hiroshi quickly added in, "And change back!"

Stopping her pacing to look towards the speaking teens, she waited a moment before looking towards the shortest of the trio and asked, "Not going to add anything else?"

Ranma just shrugged as she answered, "Nah, I'm good. Just want to see where this is going 'n all."

Smiling slightly, Claudine sat back down and stated, "Where this is going is a 'win/win' situation for both of us. You get a way to make money and help from contacts the guild has to 'change back' and get home. The guild gets new blood that has already paid off and proven it's worth."

Smirking, the white eared martial artist countered, "And you're going to send someone along with us to babysit us."

Smirking back, the local guildmaster answered back, "Of course. I don't assume you know how to get to Jeuno, Selbina or even to the port here in this very city. It'd be suicide to send you alone without an experienced guide to show you around and notify you of dangers. The fact that your guide will also be your leader is just standard protocol for all recruits until they've completely proven themselves with a number of missions under their belts."

"Here, take this," she directed, handing over a small piece of paper with something written on it, "It's the name and address to a scholar who might be able to assist you three. I will state, however, that members of the guild get a substantial discount on his services…"

"Alright, alright," Hiroshi broke in, holding her hand up in a stopping motion, "We get it." Looking to Ranma and Daisuke, the copper haired girl got their shrug and nod in response. "We're in, so what do we do now?"

Smiling in satisfaction, the woman pulled open a drawer of her desk open and pulled out a book and a scroll. Unfurling the scroll and opening the book to the proper page, she stated, "Now, we get to the part the other's have been waiting for; getting paid."

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"This all seems a little too planned," Hiroshi stated as she held the off-white tunic up to her to roughly test the fit.

To the side, Kitoria held a red and black pair of shorts up before her, flipping it back and forth. "Considering Cor had talked to her before we got there, it probably is." Setting folding and placing the shorts back onto the table, she explained, "Cor knows I have the extra space since Hermi and Phont moved out and the guild master thinks I'm ready to start leading my own group missions now." Shrugging she added, "Personally, I don't mind you guys crashing until you can find your own place to stay, just as long as you help pay the bills."

"No problem there," Ranma stated as the black and white tailed mithra decided on her final purchase, a set of long dark grey shorts which would turn into short pants when she was female. "I'm kinda surprised how much she paid us. Is that normal?"

"Not really," the fiery haired mithra responded, turning towards the questioning martial artist, "since it a combination of a signup bonus and a small percentage of the mission pay you helped out on."

"Considering the price of these clothes, we'll be good for a while," Hiroshi commented on, putting the blood red shirt she was holding into the 'buy' stack.

"Speaking of clothes, are you done yet?"

"Shut up, Dai," Hiroshi snapped, tired of the bored comments from the only 'all the time' male of the trio. "Shopping as a girl is harder than you think."

Having heard this second complaint from the bored looking male, the woman running the store suggested, "If you'd like, there's a weapons smith just down the way your boyfriend can visit."

"He's not my boyfriend," the copper haired mage vehemently cried out.

Smirking at his friend's reaction, Dai just asked what the place was called and left when he got his answer. As he left, he heard Kitoria advise the girl who was still giving the shopkeeper the evil eye, "You should calm down, it's just a simple mistake."

Dai just snickered as he walked the short distance towards the suggested store, finding a rather non-descript building which opened up into a weapon warehouse inside. "Whoa, nice," the brown haired teen whistled out as he eyed the racked metal instruments of damage.

"Ain't the first time I've heard someone your age say that," a short tarutaru stated with amusement from behind a counter as he leant over an open book.

"Oh, hey. Sorry, I didn't see you," Daisuke apologized as he moved over to the counter.

Smirking slightly, the middle aged tarutaru waved it off, "Considering your reaction to our wares, I'll let it slide. Anyways, welcome to 'Sharp's Sharps'. I'm Sharp and how can I help you?"

"You made all these," the teenaged human asked in incredulity, wondering how a one meter tall person could make some of the weapons which looked to be at least two meters in length.

"Oh, no," the brown haired taru waved off with a grin, having had this question asked many times. "I've got a couple galka friends who I buy the larger weapons from. Me, I'm better at the smaller finesse ones' if you get my drift." He punctuated the statement by pointing to the thin foil hanging on the wall behind him, the pommel a work of interlaced artwork.

Showing an impressed expression, Dai looked around at some of the smaller weapons which he found along that wall. "Hey, got any suggestions? I'm sorta looking for something to fall back on incase I run out of ammo."

"Do you have any preferences or training in any specific weapon type?" The short humanoid asked, hoping to narrow down the selection from 'my entire store'.

"Not really, but someone I know suggested a knife or small sword," the brown eyed teen replied, looking back to the storekeeper before added, "Oh, and I don't have a lot of cash to burn, so…"

"So, you're a newbie on a budget," Sharp bluntly summed up, hopping off his stool and wandering out into the open store. "Come on, let me show you the bargain knives and daggers."

Dai wasn't sure he liked the attitude the short store owner was letting off, but he didn't know what the hell he was doing with selecting a spare weapon. Even still, he was expecting something more low quality than the racks of knives and daggers he found himself standing before.

"They're inexpensive and still good enough quality," Sharp pitched, waving a short arm over the display. "They're all marked based off the rack they're on and don't go switching them around, I'll know," he explained and warned at the same time. "Test them out and see if one suits your hand. Just try not to cut yourself or anything else in here."

When the females walked into the store a little while later, they found him at the counter talking to the relatively tall tarutaru proprietor, a simple single blade long knife on the counter between them. Dai was dropping some coins on the counter, the local currency being called 'Gil', which the taru was counting out silently.

"And that's paid in full," Sharp stated once he pulled the last coin to him and slid them all into a sack before storing it behind the counter.

"Nice," Dai lightly exclaimed, sliding the knife into a leather sheath and reworking his belt to thread the sheath to his hip.

"Find a new toy," Ranma asked out with a grin, as she walked up to the other teen.

Daisuke just grinned as he patted the knife hanging off his right hip, nodding in affirmative. "Now I just need to find a place that sells bullets and gun stuff."

"If you're looking for firearm supplies, I happen to know a guy up in the port who deals with them. One of the few guys in the city on the up and up with them, too," Sharp supplied helpfully, more pleasant now that he'd gotten a sale and maybe a referral favor with his friend.

"I'll have to check it out," Daisuke replied happily, nodding to the taru.

Looking over the trio of females, Sharp asked out, "Any of you ladies looking for some new weapons?" His expression dropped slightly when they indicated 'no, they weren't', but kept up his mercantile pitch, "Keep 'Sharp's' in mind if you ever do."

"Come on, guys," the spiky haired mithra called out to the group, "we can stop by there later. We've got to hit up a mage store near there."

The quad of adventurers exited the weapon smiths and entered the bustling San d'Oria streets once more. They wandered along, mild conversations between the four over their purchases; along with one punch in the arm from Hiroshi to Dai for an offhand comment which neither Ranma or Kitoria felt was undeserved.

As they passed through the craftsman district, the area where the blacksmithing and woodworking guild councils had set up shop. Due to the large influence the two councils had, along with the flow of raw supplies into the area from the port, a vast majority of the larger smithies and workshops concentrated in the area as well. Kitoria explained that the local resources surrounding the kingdom being trees and mines led to the major export being metal and wood products.

Eventually, they entered a cave large cut out of the mountain chain, the smell and sound of the sea blowing through with breeze. "They say that this used to be a pirate's cove back before the kingdom started but when it got found out by the founding king's expedition, they cleared it out and set up shop themselves."

Pointing towards the walls of the cave, cut to look like bricks instead of flat wall, she explained, "The founding king died of illness before they could begin construction, so it wasn't until his son took over before the port became a reality."

"That's pretty cool," Daisuke commented, looking at the walls and light sconces near the ceilings.

Ranma was doing the same, asking a moment later, "I'm guessing those are more of those crystal powered lights?"

"Yes, they are," the red tailed mithra confirmed, pointing to one, "They used to be torches and oil lamps back in the day, but they finally changed them over after the current king fielded complaints from the porter's guild." She pointed up to the ceiling and the smoke stains that remained, "When the wind shifted, the merchants and porters would be smoked out by their own torches."

As they continued into the cave, the entrance further behind them, they found small outlets cut into the rock which led into small stores, their wares advertised by small signs outside their open doors. As they moved through the passageways, Kitoria leading the group through the various splits in the passage, they passed through an intersection which held a duo of stumpy masked creatures surrounded by their displayed wares.

"What are those guys," Hiroshi asked quietly to the taller female mithra, lightly gesturing towards the shorter beings.

"They're goblins," Kitoria answered easily. "It's sort of iffy on who's side they're really on, since they're technically a Beastman tribe, but quite a few of them are at least neutral and are willing to trade, like these guys. Just don't make the mistake in thinking they're friendly; they'll rip you for what they can on the deal."

"If you do trade with them, they've got some interesting things but they rarely take Gil," she explained before shrugging, "I've heard of some of them taking steel ingots, gems of varying types, weird useless animal parts… It's sort of random and annoying cause they usually don't want what you have."

The pair of goblins were chattering lowly between themselves, too low for the mithra to make out what was being said, but Kitoria continued to lead the group deeper through the tunnels. Eventually, she pointed towards the left fork at the next intersection, saying, "It's just at the end of this passageway."

As the group came up to the indicated path at the intersection, Ranma slipped back away from her companions till she watched them turn the corner and disappear from view. Stopping a moment to hear their footsteps receding down the chamber, she double backed to the previous intersection to find the two goblins still conversing lowly to one another.

"Yo," the white eared mithra called out with a jaunty wave, gaining the attention of the two smaller masked beings as she approached, "How you guys doing today?"

"Day is pleasant, She-Mithra," one of the two responded after a moment before waving a hand over his displayed wares on blankets over the stone floor, "More with good trading, yes?"

"That's the plan," Ranma replied with a grin, looking over the assorted knick-knacks they had out for show. "I heard you guys had some interesting stuff for sale."

"Jixnix has pretty shiny jewelry," the now named Jixnix started out only to be quickly interrupted by the browsing mithra.

"Nah, don't need that stuff," Ranma quickly stated with a dismissive wave of her hand, looking more at the pile of bottled liquids, small weapons and odd items to the other side.

"Raksvox has Potion of Strength," the other goblin voiced out, picking up a purple colored bottle out of the pile to show, "make strong like Galka! Good, good price!"

The black and white tailed mithra thought about it for a moment, rubbing her chin while her tail flicked back and forth behind her. Eventually she shook her head in the negative, saying, "Nah, probably some side effect, too. Seen some bad stuff happen with boosts like that."

"Quality best," the brown leather masked goblin countered, sounding offended at the mithra's comment but put the down the bottle when he read that she wasn't buying. He eventually started listing more items on display in a more general fashion.

Finding something that caught her eye, Ranma picked up a set of opaque glass goggles and asked, "What's so special about these?" She flipped them around to find anything identifiable on them but failed to do so.

"Ah, good find," Jixnix praised as he stepped forward to tap the darkened lenses, "Goblin make, stop bright eye burn in great outside." He tapped his own darkened lenses of his leather mask to reiterate.

"No thanks," Ranma stated with slight amusement, setting the goggles back down on the blue and green dyed blanket she picked them up from. "What about the bag?" She asked, pointing to a rather non-descript belt pouch that was on the back of the blanket, closest to the goblins.

"This rare gobbie bag," Raksvox explained, picking up the bag so the black haired martial artist could see it but far enough away not to hand it over, "very good use, much expensive!"

"What's so special about it?" Ranma asked, her curiosity peaked as she raised a brow and crossed her arms.

"Gobbie secret make," Raksvox continued to talk as he started putting items into the small bag. "Hold much things," he continued, putting actions to words as he continued loading more things into the container. Ranma blinked and uncrossed her arms as she realized that the amount of things going in dwarfed the physical size of the container by twice when the goblin finally put in a box that was literally bigger than the bag.

"Whoa, how'd you do that?" Ranma asked out, visibly and audibly impressed.

"Gobbie secret Gobbie bag," Jixnix smugly replied. "Hold lots, no spill," he added, with his goblin compatriot turning the bag over and shaking it with nothing falling out. "Grab what want when want," he continued, reaching over to pull out the goggles which were one of the first items to go into the bag.

"How much for it?" The martial artist asked while Raksvox continued to empty the bag to the side.

Jixnix waggled a finger, sending his long floppy ears waggling as well. "No gil, trade! Much expensive, very rare, yes! Trade rare!"

Ranma frowned lightly, trying to think of anything she had that was trade-worthy, which wasn't much, especially not much that these goblins would take considering they didn't want the local currency. Thinking about it, she eventually pulled out a small bag of coins from a pants pocket. "How about this," she said when she poured the bag of coins into her other hand, the gold and silver 'beastcoins' clinking audibly.

Leaning forward to examine and count the money, Jixnix eventually shook his head, "Good money, not enough."

Tightening her lips in irritation, Ranma poured the money back into the small bag and then pulled out the two necklaces she had also looted from the ork's corpse. "What about these?" Ranma let the goblin take the dangling chains from her hand to examine them more closely.

She could just imagine Jixnix blinking behind those cloudy lenses of the gasmask as he held them up before his face. Her thoughts held true when he spoke out when Raksvox moved over to look at them as well, "Look at this, cousin!"

"Hey," Raksvox lightly exclaimed, "That's one of those lost 'sacred' necklaces that that Yagudo priest was talking about, right?"

"Think so," Jixnix responded with a nod, before pointing towards the second one, "and we could probably make good coin on this one once we get home. We'd be set for a good while!"

"So they're both worth a lot, that's good to know," Ranma commented, leaning over the two shorter humanoids with a large grin.

Both goblins jerked and looked up before Jixnix asked in a shocked voice, "You overheard that?"

"Yup," the black haired female replied with a nod before offering, "So… how about the bag and these for those and the coins?" She picked up a set of black fingerless leather gloves with metal plates on the back of the hands to show her request. Raksvox had earlier pointed them out as being made from enchanted basilisk leather and mithril plates to increase unarmed strength without removing any hand dexterity.

Both goblins looked at each other silently for a moment before Jixnix hesitantly answered, "That would be… acceptable."

"Awesome," Ranma happily exclaimed, smiling widely, "It's a deal, then!" Handing over the small bag of beastmen coins, the martial artist nicked the 'gobbie bag' from Raksvox's gloved hands. "Thanks for the trade, guys, but I need to catch up with my friends," Ranma said, giving a jaunty wave before jogging off towards the magic shop that Kitoria had led the other two towards.

Behind at the intersection, Jixnix and Raksvox just watched her turn the corner and disappear from sight. After a moment of silence, Jixnix asked his cousin, "When's the last time you've heard of a Mithra knowing Goblinese?"

"Never," Raksvox replied off handedly as he moved over to his wares and started packing up. "All I know is that trade made our entire trip profitable and that's not something I'm going to question."

o0O0o

End of Chapter 4

A/N

- First off, I need to point out that I planned on having at least 2-3 more sections to this chapter but as I started writing it, the sections and words just kept piling on as I went on. Woe is me when my muse gives me more stuff to write than normal, I know. World's smallest violin and all. XD

- Probably one the hardest things I'm trying to work with is the balancing act of moving the plot along, doing character growth and creation, world explanation so you readers know what's going on and doing it all while still keeping the story interesting. Hopefully I'm accomplishing this, but let me know in the reviews.

- Speaking of reviews, I'll just say now that some of the reviews I've received so far have been a good boost to my ego and I'm thankful. While I'm really writing for my own reasons as a way to fulfill my creative urges, getting a good long review and critique of my works is very rewarding. So, to those of you who have done so, thanks for spending the time to give a lengthy review and I hope you're enjoying my work in the future.


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